£ SEVEN LK 
TEACHING 



OF 



GREGORY-BAGLEY-IAYTON 







Class L 


/c^/, 


A <^ 

V A 


5' 


Book 


rZ 




()Oi!yright}^»_ 




v'V 


'n 


copyRiGin 


'DEPOSm 




«' 



THE SEVEN LAWS OF 
TEACHING 



BY 
JOHN MILTON GREGORY 

First Regent of the University 
of Illinois 



NEW EDITION 

Revised by William C. Bagley and Warren K. 

Lay ton, of the School of Education, 

University of Illinois 




THE PILGRIM PRESS 

BOSTON CHICAGO 






COPYBIGHT 1917 

By frank M. SHELDON 



NOV -9 1917 



THE PILGRIM PRESS 
BOSTON 



© C[ A '•■ ? C 1 4 



PREFATORY NOTE TO THE REVISED 
EDITION 

In this revision of Dr. Gregory's book, every effort 
has been made to retain both the form and the sub- 
stance of the original. Certain additions and altera- 
tions have been suggested by the recent developments 
in educational theory and practice. The most extensive 
changes have been made in the rewriting of Chapter 
III and Chapter VI. 

W. C. B. 
W. K. L. 

Urbana, Illinois. 
June, 1917. 



m 



CONTENTS 



I 

PAGE 

The Laws of Teaching 1 

II 
The Law of the Teacher 13 

III 
The Law of the Learner 24 

IV 

The Law of the Language 41 

V 

The Law of the Lesson 57 

VI 

The Law of the Teaching Process ... 73 

VII 

The Law of the Learning Process ... 96 

vni 
The Law of Review and Application . . . 107 



JOHN MILTON GREGORY 

The author of this book, John Milton Gregory, 
was one of the educational leaders of the genera- 
tion that has just passed from the stage. He was 
born at Sand Lake, in Rensselaer County, New York, 
on July 6th, 1822. His early training was obtained 
in the district schools and he became himself a dis- 
trict-school teacher at the age of seventeen. Three 
years later, apparently destined for the profession 
of law, he entered Union College at Schenectady, 
New York, but after graduating in 18^6, he gave up 
the study of law to enter the ministry of the Bap- 
tist Church. His heart, however, was in teaching, 
and in 1852 he became head of a classical school 
in Detroit, Michigan. Almost immediately he was 
recognized as a leader in the educational councils 
of the state. He was active in the affairs of 
the State Teachers' Association and was one of the 
founders and the first editor of the "Michigan Jour- 
nal of Education." His iniimate knowledge of 
educational affairs and his popularity among the 
teachers led to his election in 1858 to the State 
superintendency of public instruction, an office 
to which he was twice reelected. He declined a 
fourth nomination in 186^ when, as president of 
Kalamazoo College, he entered upon a new phase 
of his career, — the organization of institutions for 
higher education. 

In 1868, when the University of Illinois was es- 
tablished under the name, "Illinois State Industrial 
University," Dr. Gregory was asked to undertake 
the organization of the new institution. His work 



viii JOHN MILTON GREGORY 

for thirteen years in laying the foundations of one 
of the largest and strongest of the state universities 
gives him a secure place in the history of American 
education. After leaving the University of Illinois 
he served for some time as a member of the United 
States Civil Service Commission. The great work 
of his life, however, was the organization of the 
University, and just before he died in 1898 he asked 
that his body be laid to rest within the campus of 
the school for which he had done so much. This 
request was reverently complied with. 

Dr. Gregory's book, "The Seven Laws of Teach- 
ing," was first published in 188^. A clear and 
simple statement of the important factors govern- 
ing the art of teaching, it has been especially suc- 
cessful as a handbook for Sunday-school teachers. 
In recognition of Dr. Gregory's great service to the 
University of Illinois, two members of the School 
of Education undertook the revision of the book 
which is here presented. 



INTRODUCTION 

Let us, like the Master, carefully observe a little 
child, that we may learn from him what educa- 
tion is; for education, in its broadest meaning, 
embraces all the steps and processes by which an 
infant is graduaUy transformed into a full-grown 
and intelligent man. 

Let us take account of the infant. He has a com- 
plete human body, with eyes, hands, and feet, — 
all the organs of sense, of action, and of locomo- 
tion, — and yet he lies helpless in his cradle. He 
laughs, cries, feels; he has the attributes of the 
adult, but not the powers. 

In what does this infant differ from a man? 
Simply in being a child. His body and limbs are 
small, weak, and without voluntary use. His feet 
cannot walk; his hands have no skill; his lips 
cannot speak. His eyes see without perceiving, and 
his ears hear without understanding. The universe 
into which he has come lies around him unknown 
and mysterious. 

More observation and study make it clear to us 
that the child is but a germ. — he has not his destined 
growth — and he is ignorant — without acquired 
ideas. 

On these two facts rest the two notions of educa- 
tion: (1) tlie development of capacities, and (2) 
the acquisition of experience. The first is the ma- 
turing of body and mind to full growth and 
strength; the second is the process of furnishing 
the child with the heritage of the race. 



X Introduction 

Each of these facts — the child's immaturity and 
his ignorance — might serve as a basis for a science 
of education. The first would emphasize the capac- 
ities of the human being, their order of develop- 
ment and their laws of growth and action. The 
second would involve a study of the various 
branches of human knowledge, and how they are dis- 
covered, developed, and perfected. Each of these 
sciences would necessarily involve the other, as 
a study of powers involves a knowledge of their 
products, and a study of effects includes a survey of 
causes. 

Based upon these two forms of educational 
science, we find the art of education to be a two- 
fold one : the art of training and the art of teaching. 

Since the child is immature in the use of all his 
capacities it is the first business of education to 
give such training as will bring them to full develop- 
ment. This training may be physical, mental, or 
moral. 

Since the child is ignorant, it is the business of 
education to communicate to it the experience of 
the race. This is properly the work of teaching. 
Considered in this light, the school is but one of 
the agencies of education, since we continue 
throughout our lives to acquire experience. The 
first object of teaching, then, is to stimulate in the 
pupil the love of learning, and to form in him 
habits and ideals of independent study. 

These two, the cultivation of capacities and the 
transmission of experience, together make up the 
teacher's work. All organizing and governing are 
subsidiary to this two-fold aim. The result to be 
sought is a full-grown physical, intellectual, and 
moral manhood, with such resources as are neces- 
sary to make life useful and happy and as will 



Introduction xi 

enable the individual to go on learning from all 
the activities of life. 

These two great branches of the educational art, 
— training and teaching, — though separable in 
thought, are not separable in practice. We can 
only train by teaching, and we teach best when we 
train best. The proper training of the intellectual 
capacities is found in the acquisition, elaboration, 
and application of the knowledge and skills which 
represent the heritage of the race. 

There is, however, a practical advantage in keep- 
ing these two processes of education before the 
mind. The teacher with these clearly in view 
will observe more easily and estimate more in- 
telligently the real progress of his pupils. He will 
not be content with a dry daily drill which keeps 
his pupils at work as in a treadmill, nor will he 
be satisfied with cramming their minds with use- 
less facts and names. He w^ill carefully note both 
sides of his pupils' education, and will direct his 
labors and adapt his lessons wisely and skilfully 
to secure both of the ends in view. 

This statement of the two sides of the science 
and art of education brings us to the point of 
view from which may be clearly seen the real aim 
of this little volume. That aim is stated in its title 
—THE SEVEN LAWS OF TEACHING. Its object 
is to set forth, in a certain systematic order, the 
principles of the art of teaching. It deals with 
mental capacities only as they need to be consid- 
ered in a clear discussion of the work of acquiring 
experience in the process of education. 

As the most obvious work of the schoolroom is 
that of studying the various branches of knowl- 
edge, so the work of teaching — the work of assign- 
ing, explaining, and hearing lessons — is that which 



xii Introduction 

chiefly occupies the time and attention of the in- 
structor. To explain the laws of teaching will, 
therefore, seem the most direct and practical way 
to instruct teachers in their art. It presents at 
once the clearest and most practical view of their 
duties, and of the methods by which they may win 
success in their work. Having learned the laws 
of teaching, the teacher will easily master the phil- 
osophy of training. 

This little book does not claim to set forth the 
whole science of education, nor even the whole 
art of teaching. But if it has succeeded in group- 
ing around the seven factors, which are present in 
every instance of true teaching, the leading prin- 
ciples and rules of the teaching art, so that they 
can be seen in their natural order and relations, 
and can be methodically learned and used, it has 
fulfilled the desire of the author. 



THE 
SEVEN LAWS OF TEACHING 



Chapter I 

THE LAWS OF TEACHING 

1. Teaching has its natural laws as fixed 
a s the laws of th e planet s or of growing_or- 
ga msm^ . It is a proc ess in wh ich definite 
forc es are emp loyed to produce definitaj^e- 
s ults, and these results follow as regularly 
and„£gj:tain1y as the day follows the sun. 
Wliat the teacher does, he does through nat- 
ural agencies working out their natural ef- 
fects. Causation is as certain — if not always 
so obvious nor so easily understood — in the 
movements of mind as in those of matter. 
The laws of mind are as fixed as material 
laws. 

2. To discover the laws of any process, 
whether of mind or of matter, makes it pos- 
sible to bring that process under the control 
of one who knows the laws and can command 
the conditions. Knowledge of the laws of 
electric currents has made it possible to 



2 The Seven Laivs of Teaching 

send messages through the ocean ; and h e that 
masters the law s o f teach ing may convey to 
t he mind s_of other s the exp erience of the 
race^ He who would gain harvests must obey 
nature 's laws for the growing of corn, and he 
who would teach a child successfully must 
follow the laws of teaching. Nowhere, in the 
world of mind or in the world of matter, can 
man produce any effects except as he employs 
the means upon which those effects depend. 
3. Te aching, j n its simplest sense, is the 
communication of experience. This experi- 
ence may consist of facts, truths, doctrines, 
ideas, or ideals, or it may consist of the proc- 
esses or skills of an art. It may be^taught 
l^S^k^ me.Qf-WDxd^, by_signs715y_objects, h^ 
actions, or by ex ample s^; but whatever the 
substance, the mode, or the aim, of the teach- 
ing, the act itself, fundamentally considered, 
is always substantially the same: it is a 
communication of experience. Itjs painting 
in the min d of another the picture in one's 
o;vm;— the^shaping;^ of the thought and under- 
standing to_ihe comprehension of some truth 
which the teacher knows and wishes to com- 
municate. Further on we shall see that the 
word ^ * communicatiQiL' 1 is used here, not in 
the sense of the transmission of a mental 
something from one person to another, but 
rather in the sense of helping another to re- 



The Laivs of Teaching 3 

produce the same experience and thus to 
maJge it common to the two . )^^^*it^h-^\^ 

The Seven Factors 

4. To discover the law of any phenom- 
enon^^we must subjject that phenomenon to'a 
sc ientific analy sis and study its separate' 
parts. If any complete act of teaching be so 
analyzed, it will be found to contain seven 
distinct elements or factors : £1^ two personal 
f actors — a teacher^ and a learner ; (2J two 
m ental factors— a common language or me - 
d ium of communication, a n d a lesson or tru'S i 
or art to be communicated ; and (3,) t hree 
f unctional acts , or processes-^ thaf of the 
t eacher, t hat of the learner, an d a final or 
finishing proc ess to test an d fix the resu lt. 

^, These are essential elements in every 
full and complete act of teaching. Whether 
the lesson be a single fact told in three min- 
utes, or a lecture occupying as many hours, 
the seven factors are all present, if the work 
is effective. None of them can be omitted, 
and no others need be added. If there is a 
true science of teaching, it must be found in 
the laws and relations of these seven factors. 

6. To discover their laws, let us pass the 
seven factors again in careful review: (1) a 
teacher; (2) a learner; (3) a common lan- 
guage or medium of communication; (4) a 



4 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

lesson or truth; (5) the teacher's work; (6) 
the learner's work; (7) t he review w ork, 
w hich organizes^ a pplieSj_^perfects^and fast- 
ens the work which ha s b een done. EacF7)f 
these seven factors is distinguished from the 
rest by some essential characteristic ; each is 
a distinct entity or fact of nature. Since 
every fact of nature is the product and proof 
of some law of nature, each element here 
described has its own great law of function, 
and these taken together constitute THE 
SEVEN LAWS OF TEACHING. 

7. It may seem trivial so to insist upon 
all this. Some will say: **0f course there 
can be no teaching without a teacher and a 
pupil, without a language and a lesson, and 
unless the teacher teaches and the learner 
learns; or, finally, without a proper review, 
if any assurance is to be gained that the 
work has been successful. All this is too 
obvious to need assertion." So also is 
it obvious that when seeds, soil, heat, light, 
and moisture come together in proper mea- 
sure, plants are produced and grow to the 
harvest; but the obviousness of these com- 
mon facts does not prevent their hiding 
among them some of the most profound and 
mysterious laws of nature. So, too, a sim- 
ple act of teaching may hide within it some of 



The Laws of Teaching 5 

the most potent and significant laws of men- 
tal life. 

The Laws Stated 

8. These laws are not obscure and hard to 
reach. They are so simple and natural that 
they suggest themselves almost spontane- 
ously to the careful observer. They lie im- 
bedded in the simplest description that can 
be given of the seven elements named, as in 
the following; 

(1) A teacher must be one who KNOWS 
the lesson or truth or art to be taught. 

(2) A learner is one who ATTENDS with 
interest to the lesson. 

(3) The language used as a MEDIUM be- 
tween teacher and learner must be COMMON 
to both. 

(4) The lesson to be mastered must be ex- 
plicable in the terms of truth already known 
by the learner — the UNKNOWN must be ex- 
plained by means of the KNOWN. 

(5) Teaching is AEOUSING and USING 
the pupiVs mind to grasp the desired thought 
or to master the desired art. 

(6) Learning is THINKING into one's 
own UNDEKSTANDING a new idea or truth 
or working into HABIT a new art or skill. 

(7) The test and proof of teaching done 
— the finishing and fastening process — must 



6 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

be a REVIEWING, RETHINKING, RE- 
KNOWING, REPRODUCING, and AP- 
PLYING of the material that has been 
taught, the knowledge and ideals and arts 
that have been communicated. 

The Laws Stated as Rules 

9. These definitions and statements are 
perhaps so simple and obvious as to need no 
argument or proof ; but their force as funda- 
mental laws may be more clearly seen if 
they are stated as rules for teaching. Ad- 
dressed in thp teacher , thev^ may read as 
f ollows,: 

I. Know thoroughly and familiarly the 
lesson you wish to teach, — teach from a full 
mind and a clear understanding. 

II. Gain and keep the attention and in- 
terest of the pupils upon the lesson. Do not 
try to teach without attention. 

III. Use words understood in the same 
way by the pupils and yourself — language 
clear and vivid to both. 

IV. Begin with what is already well 
known to the pupil upon the subject and with 
what he has himself experienced, — and pro- 
ceed to the new material by single, easy, and 
natural steps, letting the known explain the 
unknown. 

V. Stimulate the pupiPs own mind to ac- 



The Laws of Teaching 7 

tion. Keep his thoughts as much as possible 
ahead of your expression, placing him in the 
attitude of a discoverer, an anticipator. 

VI. Eequire the pupil to reproduce in 
thought the lesson he is learning — thinking 
it out in its various phases and applications 
till he can express it in his own language. 

VII. Eeview, review, REVIEW, repro- 
ducing the old, deepening its impression with 
new thought, linking it with added mean- 
ings, finding new applications, correcting 
any false views, and completing the true. 

Essentials of Successful Teaching 

10. These rules, and the laws upon which 
they are based, underlie and govern all suc- 
cessful teaching. If taken in their broadest 
significance, nothing need be added to them 
or taken away. No one who thoroughly mas- 
ters and uses them need fail as a teacher, if 
he also has qualities that enable him properly 
to maintain the good order necessary to give 
them free and undisturbed action. Disorder, 
noise, and confusion may hinder and prevent 
the results desired, just as the constant dis- 
turbance of some chemical elements forbids 
the formation of the compounds which the 
laws of chemistry would otherwise produce. 
But good teaching, in itself, will often bring 
about good order. 



8 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

11. Like all the great laws of nature, 
these laws of teaching seem clear and ob- 
vious; but like other fundamental truths, 
their simplicity is more apparent than real. 
Each law varies in its applications with vary- 
ing minds and persons, although remaining 
constant in itself; and each stands related 
to other laws and facts till it reaches the 
outermost limits of the art of teaching. In 
the succeeding chapters we shall proceed to 
a careful study of these seven laws, reach- 
ing in our discussion many valuable prin- 
ciples in education and many practical rules 
which can be of use in the teacher's work. 

12. These laws and rules apply to the 
teaching of all subjects in all grades, since 
they are the fundamental conditions on which 
ideas may pass from one mind to another. 
They are as valid and useful for the in- 
structor in the university as for the teacher 
in the elementary school, and for the teach- 
ing of a law in logic as for instruction in 
arithmetic. 

13. There may be many successful teach- 
ers who never heard of these laws, and who 
do not consciously follow them; just as there 
are people who walk safely without any theo- 
retical knowledge of gravitation, and talk in- 
telligibly without studying grammar. Like 
the musician who plays ^'by ear,'' these 



The Laws of Teaching 9 

*'iiaturaP' teachers have learned from prac- 
tice the laws of teaching, and obey them 
from habit. It is none the less true that 
their success comes from obeying law, and 
not in spite of law. 

Skill and Enthusiasm 

14. Let no one fear that a study of the 
laws of teaching will tend to substitute a 
cold, mechanical sort of work for the warm- 
hearted, enthusiastic teaching so much to be 
desired, and so much admired and praised. 
^riio ^^i1^ ViTiHiog pnr^ Trpppg alLze, enthiiaiasm 
by f yiviTify it suc ce ss where it would otherwise 
be discouraged by defe at. Th e^true wor k- 
er's love for his work grows wimTiis abin ty 
to do it ^ ell. Enthusiasm will accomplish 
a ll the more whe n guided by intelligence a nd 
a rmed with sk ill. 

15. Unreflecting superintendents and 
school boards often prefer enthusiastic 
teachers to those who are simply well edu- 
cated or experienced. They believe, not with- 
out reason, that enthusiasm will accomplish 
more with inadequate learning and little skill 
than the best-trained and most erudite 
teacher wholly lacking in zeal. But why 
choose either the ignorant enthusiast or the 
educated sluggard! Enthusiasm is not con- 
fined to the unskilled and the ignorant, nor 



10 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

are all calm, cool men idlers. There is an 
enthusiasm born of skill — a joy in doing what 
one can do well — that is far more effective, 
where art is involved, than the enthusiasm 
born of vivid feeling. The steady advance 
of veterans is more powerful than the mad 
rush of raw recruits. The world's best work, 
in the acLoda jasJ]lJiL£..shops, is done by lie 
calm, _steadyj_ and persistent efforts of skilled 
workmen who know how to keep their tools 
sharp^and to make every effort reach its 

16. The most serious objection to sys- 
tematic teaching, based on the laws of teach- 
ing, has sometimes come from p astors, Sun - 
day-school teachers^ an d others,^ who have 
assu med that th e p rincipal aim of the Sun - 
da y school IS to im press rathe r t.hgr } to in- 
struct; and that skilful teaching, if desir- 
able at &11, is much less important than warm 
appeals to the feelings and earnest exhorta- 
tions on the proper occasions. But what ex- 
hortation will have such permanent power as 
that which is heralded by some clear truth? 
If the choice must be l3etween the warm- 
hearted teacher who makes gushing appeals, 
and the cold-hearted one who stifles all feel- 
ing by his indifference, the former is per- 
haps to be preferred; but why either? Is 
there no healthful mean between steam and 



The Laws of Teaching 11 

ice for the water of life % Thp fpafiher wlio^ f^ 
o wn miTi H glaws with the trutli. and wh o 
sTn'1fin11j_jpar1« Vn'g pnp Us to a c lear nnda r- 
standin ^ of the sam e tr uth, will no t fail in 
inRpirntioTiql pnwftr 

17. These questions may be left to call 
forth their own inevitable answers. They 
will have served their purpose if they repel 
the disposition to discredit the need of true 
teaching in Sunday schools as well as in day 
schools; and if they convince Sunday-school 
leaders that the laws of teaching are the 
la ws of mind^ which must be followed as 
faithfully in studying the Word of God as 
in studying his works. 

A Word to Teachers 

18. Leaving to other chapters the full dis- 
cussion of the meaning and philosophy of 
these seven laws, we here urge the teacher, 
especially the Sunday-school teacher, to give 
them the most serious attention. While fac- 
ing your pupils, how often have you wished 
for the power to look into their minds, and 
to plant there with sure hand some truth of 
science or some belief of the gospel? No 
key will ever open to you the doors of those 
chambers in which live your pupils^ souls; 
no glass will ever enable you to penetrate 
their mysterious gloom. But in the great 



12 The Seven Laivs of Teaching 

laws of your common nature lie the lines of 
communication by which you may send the 
thought fresh from your mind, and awaken 
the other to receive and embrace it. 

19. In the discussion of these laws there 
will necessarily occur some seeming repeti- 
tions. They are like seven hilltops of dif- 
ferent height scattered over a common terri- 
tory. As we climb each in succession, many 
points in the landscapes seen from their sum- 
mits will be found included in different 
views, but always in a new light and with a 
fresh horizon. New groupings will show new 
relations and bring to light, for the careful 
student, new aspects and uses. The repeti- 
tions themselves will not be useless, as they 
will serve to emphasize the most important 
features of the art of teaching, and will im- 
press upon teachers those principles which 
demand the most frequent attention. 



Chapter II 

THE LAW OF THE TEACHER 

1. The universal reign of law is the cen- 
tral truth of modern science. No force in 
man or nature but works under the control 
of law; no effect in mind or matter but is 
produced in conformity with law. The sim- 
plest notion of natural law is that nature re- 
mains forever uniform in its forces and op- 
erations. Causes compel their effects, and 
effects obey their causes, by irresistible laws. 
Thw£s^Mlkjwheit thej^^re by reason of the 
laws of their being, and to. learn the law j)? 
any fact is to learn jhe mo st fundamental^ 
truth that we can k now abouL it. This uni- 
formity of nature is the basis of all science 
and of all practical art. In mind and in mat- 
ter the reign of unvarying laws is the primal 
condition of any true science. The mind has 
freedom within law but no liberty to produce 
effects contrary to laws. The teacher is 
therefore as much the subject o¥ l£w as the 
star that shines or the ship that sails*. Many 
qualiScations are recognized as important 
to the teacher's position and work; and if alL 
t he requirements sought for could be ob- 
tained, the teacher would be a model man 



14 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

or woma n, a perfect assemblage of impos si- 
ble excellences ^ (jrood character and rare 
moral qualities are desirable in an instructor 
of the young, if not for his actual work, at 
least to prevent harm from his example ; but 
if, one by one, we dismiss from our catalogue 
of needful qualifications for the work of 
teaching those not abolutely indispensable, 
we shall find ourselves obliged to retain at 
last, as necessary to the very notion of teach- 
ing, a knowledge of the subject-matter to be 
taught. 

The Law of the Teacher, then, — the law 
whicii limits and describes him, — is thisf 

The teacher must know that which he 
would teach. 

Philosophy of the Law 

2. That we carmp t fenph wit h mi t kTiowl- 
ed^e seems too simple for proof. How can 
s'omething come out of nothing, or how can 
darkness give light 1 To affirm this law seems 
like declaring a truism: but deeper study 
shows it to be a fundamental truth, — the law 
of the teacher. No other qualification is so 
fundamental and essential. If the terma„,of 
the law are rever sed, another important truth 
i s revealed ; What the teacher knows he 
must teach. 



The Law of the Teacher 15 

3. The word EIN O W stands central in t he 
l aw of the teach er. Knowledge is the m a- 
t erial with whifiht.hfi teacher works, a nd the 
first reason for th e law mu st be SQUghtULU 
t he nature of knowlftd^p . What men call 
knowledge is of all degrees, from the first 
glimpse of truth to the full understanding. 
At different stages the experience of the race, 
as we acquire it, is characterized^by : (Ij 
fainiE"fecognit^; (2) the abilit y to recall for 
oufs'elyeSajoj to^_describaJn n general way ,tP 
o thers^j what we have learned.: (3) thejower 
r eadily to e xplain, pro ve, i llustrate, and ap- 
pl^it; and (4) such_kn^wledge,„and, appre- 
ciation oflhe trutlijn its deeper significance 
and wider relations, that by the force of its 
importance we act upon i^, — our conduct_J~s 
modified by it. History is history only to 
him who thus reads and knows it. It is this 
last form of knowledge, or experience, which 
must be read into the law of the t;'ue teacher. 

4. It is not affirmed that no one can teach 
at all without this fulness of knowledge ; nor 
is it true that every one who knows his sub- 
ject-matter thus thoroughly will necessarily , 
teach successfully. But imperfect knowing 
must be reflected in imperfect teaching. 
'V^at a man does not know he cannot teach 
successfully. But the jaw of the teacher is^ 
only one of the laws of teaching, and failure 



16 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

may come fr om the viola tion s of other con- 
di tions as well as f rom neglect of this. Like- 
wise success in so me measu re may come from 
o bedience to the oth er laws. However, teach - 
i ng must be u ncertain and li mping wh en 
characterized b;^ an inadequate know ledge o f 
the material to be taught. 

5. A truth is known by its resemblances, 
and can best bC-seen in the Hght of otIGLer 
t ruth s. The pupil, inst ead of seeing a fact 
alone, s hould see it linked to the great body 
of trut h^n a ll its fruitful relation s. Great 
principles are discovered amid familiar facts 
vividly seen, and concepts clearly wrought. 
The power of illustration — a most import^t 
tool in t he teache r ^s art— comes only out.ijf 
clear a nd fam iliar knowledge. The un- 
knowing teacher is like the blind trying to 
lead the blind with only an empty lamp 
to light the way. 

6. Consider the common facts taught in 
the geography of the schools, — the round- 
ness of the earth, the extent of oceans and 
continents, mountains, rivers, and peopled 
states and cities, — ^how tame and slight in 
interest to the half-taught teacher and his 
pupils; but how inspiring as seen by the 
Herschels, the Danas, and the Guyots! To 
them appear in vision the long processions 
of age-filling causes which have given shape 



The Law of the Teacher 17 

to the globe. To such teachers geography- 
is one chapter in the science and history of 
the universe. So, too, with Biblical truths; 
they are meager in meaning to the careless 
reader and to the non- studious teacher, but 
they are brilliant with truth and rich with 
meaning to those who bring to their study 
the converging lights of history, science, and 
indeed all forms of recorded experience. 

7. But the law of the teacher goes deeper 
still. T ruth must be clearlv understoo d be- 
f ore it can be vividly felt . Only the true sfu- 
dents of any science grow enthusiastic over 
it. It is the clearness of their vision which 
inspires the wonderful eloquence of the poet 
and the orator, and makes them the teachers 
of their race. It was Hugh Miller, the geol- 
ogist, whose eye deciphered and whose pen 
recorded **The Testimony of the Eocks.** 
Kepler, the great astronomer, grew wild as 
the mysteries of the stars unrolled before 
him, and Agassiz could not afford time to 
lecture for money while absorbed in the study 
of the fishes of an ancient world. That 
t eacher will he ^^]^ ?^^ lifele ss who onl y 
h alf knows t h e^ subject he would teack: but 
on e fired wit h e nthusiasm wi ll unconsciousl y 
ins pire his j )upil s with h is own intere st. 

"^ This e arnest Jppf^liu^ nf fmfT^ plpay'ly 

conceived is the secret of the enthusiasm so 



18 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

much ad mired and praisedJ iL teacher and 
pr gacherf TJommon truths become trans- 
formed for such a teacher. History becomes 
a living panorama; geography swells out 
into great continental stretches of peopled 
nations; astronomy becomes the march of 
worlds and world-systems. How can the 
teacher's manner fail to be earnest and in- 
spiring when his subject-matter is so rich 
in radiant reality? 

9. While Imowledge thus thoroughly and 
f amiliarly masteredlljous es into higher ac- 
tion all the powers of t he teachey . it also 
g lves^'Min the^ oJ^imand and use of those 
powers. Instead of a feeling of subservience 
to his text-book, th e teacher who knows his 
l esson a s h^ejiii g]irTR"lirhorne~iTi his recita - 
tion, and c an watch the efforts of his cla ss 
an^ direct ^^'^l^,_ea«^ th^ frp-nd of iljeir 
thoughts. He is ready to re cognize5a nd in- 
terpreMheir first gli mpses^of truth Tto re- 
move the" obstacles from their path^ and to^ 
aid and encourage them. 

10. A teacher's rea dy and evident kno wl- 
edge helps to giv.Q.the~ pupil needed confi- 
dence. We follow with expectation and Be- 
light the guide who has a thorough knowl- 
edge of the field we wish to explore, but we 
follow reluctantly and without interest the 
ignorant and incompetent leader. Children 



The Law of the Teacher 19 

object to being tau ght by o ne in wbom tlj^ey 
bavp Tin p,nnfirlPTip.ft. And this is not all. The 
great scholars, — the Newtons, the Humboldts, 
and the Huxleys, — kindle public interest in 
the sciences in which they themselves are 
working; in the same way t he well-prepare d 
t eacher awake ns in his pup ils the a ctive d e- 
sir e to study further . In some unfortunate 
cases, gre at knowledge is unaccompanie d 
by __^Ihe abilitY to inspire pupils with a 
l ove of stud y, and this is j i, rnnriitinn fntnl 
to successful tea gJiinff, especiall y with you ng 
pupils. Better a teacher with limited knowl- 
edge but with the power to stimulate his pu- 
pils, than an Agassiz without it. 

11. Such is the philosophy of this first 
great law of teaching. Thus understood, it 
clearly portrays the splendid ideal which no 
one except the Great Teacher ever fully 
realized, but which 'every true teacher must 
approach. It defines accurately the forces 
with which the successful teacher must go to 
his work. From the mother teaching her lit- 
tle child, to the instructor of the most ab- 
stract science, the orator addressing senates, 
and the preacher teaching great congrega- 
tions, this law knows no exceptions and 
permits no successful violations. It affirms 
everywhere, the teacher must know that 
which he would teach. 



20 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

Rules for Teachers 

12. Among the rules which arise out of 
the Law of the Teacher, the following are 
the most important: 

(1) Pre£are_ each lesson by fresh study. 
Last year's knowledge has necessarily faded 
somewhat. Only fresh conceptions inspire 
us to our best efforts. 

(2) Find in the lesson its analogies to 
more familiar facts and prin ciples . In these 
lie the illustrations by which it may be taught 
to others. 

( 3 ) Studvthe^LesRo n until it ta kes shaj^e 
i n familiar language . The final pro duct _of 
c lear tho ught is cle ar speej ^h. 

(4) Findthe^ natu ral ord er of the several 
stepso TlEe lesson . In every science there 
is a natural path from the simplest notions 
to the broadest views ; so, too, in every lesson. 

(5) I^djthe^reLaJiojil^^jL^ 

live s of the JBarners . Its practical value lies 
in these relations. 

(6) Use freely _a ll legitimate aids , but 
never r¥st until th e real u nderstand iup- is 
clearlvbef ore you. 

^7) fiear in mind that complete mastery 
of a few things^^is better than an ineifectiye 
smattering of i nanv. 
" (8) Have a definite time for the study of 



The Law of the Teacher 21 

e ach less( 2]2, i n advance of the teaching . All 
things help the duty done on time. One 
keeps on learning the lesson studied in ad- 
vance, and gathers fresh interest and illus- 
trations. 

(9) Have a plan_ o f study , b ut do not hes i- 
tate, when necess"ary, to st udy beyond th e 
plan. T he best mnemon ic dev ice is to ask 
a ndanswer thes e que stions abou t t he lesson : 
WhatI Hosl Whj f 

(10) Do not deny yo urself the help of 
good books bn t he sub;ject of your lesson s. 
Buy, boFrow, or beg, if necessary, but obtain 
somehow the help of the best thinkers, enough 
at least to stimulate your own thought; but 
do not read without thinking. If possible, 
talk the lesson over with an intelligent 
friend; collision often brings light. In the 
absence of these aids, write your views; ex- 
pressing your thoughts in writing may clear 
them of obscurities. 

Violations aiid Mistakes 

13. This discussion would be incomplete 
without some mention of the frequent viola- 
tions of the law. The best teacher may spoil 
his most careful and earnest work by thought- 
less blunders. The true teacher will make 
as few errors as possible, and will profit by 
those that he makes. 



22 The Seven Latvs of Teaching 

(1) The very ign or ance of h is p upils may - 
t empt the teache r t o ne^lect care ful prepara - 
t ion and study . He may think that in any 
event he will know much more of the lesson 
than the pupils can, and imagine that he will 
find something to say about it, or that the 
ignorance will pass unnoticed. A sad mis- 
take, and one that often costs dearly. The 
cheat is almost sure to be discovered, and 
from that time the teacher's standing with 
the class is gone. 

(2) S ome tea cher s assume that it is the 
p upils ' work, hot tneirs, to study the lesson , 
a nd that with the aid of the book in hand , 

^^^ZJ!l!lJl^->S^ pasily in flp;p.prt.RiTi whpf~r 

the p upilsTiave done their duty. Better let 
one of the pupils who knows his lesson ex- 
amine the others, than to discourage study 
by your own indifference and lack of prep- 
aration. Teaching is not merely ^* hearing 
lessons.'' 

(3) Others look hastily through the les- 
son, and conclude that though they have not 
thoroughly mastered it, or perhaps any part 
of it, they have gathered enough to fill the 
periodj_ari3 can, if necessary, supplement 
the^Kttl£tti£^know with random talk or story. 
OrTTackingtime or heart for any prepara- 
tion, they dismiss all thought of teaching, 
fill the hour with such exercises as may occur 



The Laiv of the Teacher 23 

to them, and hope that, as the school is a 
good thing anyway, the pupils will receive 
some benefit from mere attendance. 

(4) A more serious f ault is that of tho se 
w ho, f a jling to lin d stimul ation in tlie lesson, 
m ake it a "me re Tramework upoi Pwhich to 
hang some fan ci es of their own . 

(5) Thej:£4s_a^_mganer_wTong^ dq^ by th e 
teacher who seeks^ f, o c on peal b i Qazy" igno - 
r ance with_some_ p o mpous pretense of learn - 
ing^ hidin g his la ck of knowledge by an arra y 
o f high-sounding phrases beyond the com - 
Tp rehensioh of h ]> pn pils^ uttering solem n 
pl atitudes in a wise tone, or claiming exte n- 
s ive study and pro foun d informntinn -whif h 
h?^Eas not_the time to lay prop e rly befor e 
t hem . \Yho has not seen these shams prac- 
ticed upon pupils f 

Thus many teachers go to their work either 
partly prepared or wholly unprepared. They 
are like messengers without a message. They 
lack entirely the power and enthusiasm nec- 
essary to produce the fruits which we have 
a right to look for from their efforts. Let^ 
t his first fun da mental law of teaching t e 
tho roughly obey ed, and our schools will in- 
crease m numbers and in usefulness. ^ 



Chapter III 

THE LAW OF THE LEARNER 

1. Passing from the teacher to the pupil, 
our next inquiry is for the Law of the 
Learner. Here the se arch must be for those 
chara cteristics wh ich differentiate i h e learne r 
fromothe r person ^; — fo r the essentiaf^ e- 
menis^ whichjnake him a learner. Let us 



place before us a successful student, and note 
carefully his actions and qualities. His in- 
tentjoot and absorbed manner ar e si^ns of 
his intere sF"an d attentio n. I nterest an d at- 
tention characterize t he^ mental state "oFlh e 
trueTearnerT' and constitute the essential 
basis on which the process of learning rests. 
The law of the learner, then, may be stated 
as follows: 

The learner must attend with interest to 
the material to he learned. 

2. The law thus stated may seem to be a 
truism, but it is as really profound as it is 
seemingly simple. The plainest proof of its 
truth lies in the readiness with which every 
one will admit it. Its real significance can 
be found by careful study. 



The Law of the Learner 25 

Attention Described 

3. Attention mea ns the direct io n of th e 
mind upon s ome object . The object may be 
e xternal, as when one watches carefully the 
operation of a machine or listens intently to 
a piece of music; or it may be mental , as 
when one *^ calls to mind'' some past experi- 
ence, or * ^ reflects ' ' upon the meaning of some 
idea. The psychologist speaks of this direc- 
tion of the mind as the act of bringing the 
object into the ^'focus'' of consciousness. 
Consciousness is thus thought of as present- 
ing a **focus" and a ** margin." The 
f ocus_ is occupied bv our awareness o f 
t he object that is be ing- ^^attenr^pd^^ fr), thf> 
margin b y th ose sensations and fe eli ngs that, 
are_ jtili within t he range of consciousness, 
b ut which are vagu e, i ndistinct, a nd no t 
clear ly define d. 

Attention7then, is not a constant and in- 
variable condition. "W hen we speak of ^ ^ con - 
c entrated'' or * ^ absorbed' ' at tention we mean 
that thejFject attend ed to is r>r>p.n pying' the 
wH pIe^of consciousness^ But one may attend 
with varying degrees of absorption or con- 
centration. One may let one 's mind flit from 
this object to that, following each passing 
stimulus for a moment or two until something 
else *^ catches the attention"; or one may hold 



26 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

oneself resolutely to a certain object and 
still be '* aware 'Hhat other objects are tempt- 
ing one in other directions; or one may be- 
come so completely absorbed in a given 
object that all other objects are practically 
non-existent so far as consciousness is con- 
cerned. 

There are, then, threp difPerppf, T^inds f)f 
attention^ each of which is important from 
the point of view of teaching and learning. 

{a) Attention, nf fhp ^^flitfiTig^^ kind^is 
o ften calle dM^lpassive ^ attention , beca use it 
in volves no effort of will . One simply fol- 
lows the behest of the strongest stimulus ; 
one is ^* passive'' because one is letting the 
forces that play about him control the mental 
life. TVns JR the pr imiti ve, instin ctive,^ ba^ic 
t ype of attentio:^^r — the attention of every one 
at so me times d uri ng the day ^ especially 
when one isj ire d or whei Ljoneis iii,a^plaxffl 
mood; b ut parti cularly the att ention of th e 
liHTe chjjd: 

{h) But the essen tial characteristic of _th e 
h uman mind jis ii iat it c an control, ra ther 
th an be controlled by^ th e forces thaJt su r- 
r dunTit . I t can ris e^above_itsjimfl£diata.„£li- 
^^!12I!I!!SI!^^-^^^ To olTTieyon d the present In to 
theTnEure! It c an even atten d awa^^wm 
obje cts t)] at n aturally at tract attent iou-and 
hold itself per sistently a nd resolutely to 



The Law of the Learner 27 

t asks and duti es tha t a re not immediate ly 
a ttractiveb ut wlnVh if. rpcog nizes a s impor - 
t ant and wn rfliy and Tior^ggaary. It can hold 
mo mentary fa ncy in leas h and worE reso - 
^^^l^j£4^^Jl^^''^^^t£Illly toward a remote g()g1. 
T,his distinctively human type of attention 
is called ^^ ac tive ^^ attention be cause its first 
con dition is an elt 'ort of the will^ a determi- 
nation to do what should be done in spite of 
allurements to do something else that is 
pleasanter and more attractive. 

(c) But attenti on of this effortful^ aAtiye 
s^t is not always or oft en the mn sf pponoTr^i- 
caL^aaSZett^ctiyiZlQr lenrniw-g. Generally 
speaking we learn^jn pst easily ,, a, nd most 
economically when we are *^ absorbed ^^ in our 
workj whprTthe o bject^ th a t we are tryin g 
to ^x in mi nd an d rem embe r permanentl y 
r eally attrac t u s_.in their o wn right, so t o 
s pe^ ,^ — ^wh en our learningjg s o fasc inating 
that it simply '* car ries us withlt ^^'^^Siten- 
tion oT'this sort frequently grows out of per- 
sistent effort, — out of what we have just 
termed ^* active'' attention. This attention 
resembles passive attention in that its ob- 
ject is always attractive in itself and de- 
mands little or no effort to be brought into 
the focus of consciousness ; but it also grows 
out of active attention, out of effort and per- 
sistence; t his third tyne of attention is con - 



28 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

s equently ter mftrJ ^^p^p^onr^QTy pQC!QiyQ>>^>if- 
t ention. 

It is obvious that at tention of the secon - 
d ary passive type i s. from the learner's point 
of view, the m ost desirable to cnltivate . It 
means economy o f learnin g, it means ple as- 
an t iearning^it mea ps effect ive learning . "But 
the general verdict of human experience is 
that these most desirable conditions are not 
easily fulfilled; — if they were, indeed, there 
would be little need for either teachers or 
schools. It seems to be generally true that 
these sustained and abiding ** interests'' are 
to be purchased only at a price — and the 
price is strenuous effort. One cannot lay this 
down as an unvarying rule, for there are 
doubtless some worthy interests that are 
^* grown into" with little effort, — almost by 
following the lines of least resistance. This 
is possible, — but it is also possible that a ship 
which is left to the mercy of every wind that 
blows may be wafted ultimately into some 
safe and profitable harbor. Human experi- 

sonsthatarejgiore dependable than that 
which predicates effort ^ sacrifice, ari d p^^gig- 
t ence as the chief in g^redients of success, and 
t his holds as gen era llv of suc c ess in learnin g 
as it doei^of suc cess jn busi nes s, art, inven - 
tion, and industry, 'rhe man who simply 



The Laiv of the Learner 29 

drifts into success in any field of human ac- 
tivity is almost as rare as the ship that drifts 
aimlessly into a safe harbor ; certainly those 
who know well and know thoroughly have 
paid the price of mental toil and mental ef- 
fort for their mastery, — and mental toil and 
mental effort a re onl y other words for acti ve 
attention. 

i Fwould be folly, however, for the teacher 
t o interpret this need of effort upo n t he part 
o f the learner a s me aning tha t th e art of 
te aching consists qtiIv of spttTrig tasks and 
dr ivin.o: pupils to the accomplishment of the se 
ta sks,-— for it is als o agreed that the kind of 
effort that comes fro m the in cit ement 6F5r iv- 
ing or me mcent ive of fear is~quite unlike ly 
to develop th ese perman en t and abiding in - 
terests. Thousands if lioFmillions of pupils 
under such treatment have never got beyond 
the stage of active attention ; more than this, 
they have developed a distinct and permanent 
dislike for what they have tried to learn. 
Thp Hnfy nf fliP fp^r>>ipr is essentially not th at 
o f a driver or a taskmaster but rathe r 
t hat of a c ounselor and gmi/lp His aim mu'st 
be to develop sec ondary passi ve attenti on. 
TKe^Msf^a^tojdo this is to make the stage s 
of ^advancement gr adual, so th at while the 
p upil must put f orth effort in g rasping eac h 
new step in tlie lesson or in the series of les- 



30 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

sons^the completion of ea ch step will al^o 
m akethe effo rt seem wo rth wliil e. 

Modernjheories of teaching emphasize the 
importance of *^ pr oblem s ^^ in msuring this 
pfP gTHgsive ^series bf effort s, and tE^eTis 
mu ch to commen d in th i s movem ent T'he 
theory IS that, if you can interest the pupil 
in solving a problem, he will put forth the 
effort necessary to grasp the knowledge 
which is essential to the solution. Thus if 
the knowledge that one wishes to teach can 
be organized with reference to these prob- 
lems, the learning, it is maintained, will 
really take care of itself. 

As an example of this *^ problem'' method 
of teaching as exemplified in Sunday-school 
work, one may take the general topic, the 
geography of Palestine. The traditional 
method of teaching would consider this topic 
as an information-unit. Palestine would be 
located with reference to its place on the 
globe, and with reference to the adjacent 
countries; its natural features would be de- 
scribed, — its mountains, plains, seas, and 
rivers ; the climate would be referred to and 
perhaps explained by the various factors of 
latitude, altitude, prevailing winds, neigh- 
borhood of bodies of water, deserts, etc. ; the 
productions and the people would be consid- 
ered in conclusion. But the problem-method 



The Laiv of the Learner 31 

would start in another way. A neffort rm 'g];if. 
b e made to inte res t the pup ils in an imag i- 
nary journey to P alestin e. How theY -Would 
r eacf the coun tr^how th^y wnnlH livp i\j\^ 
travgl wjiile~ih er ej Tiny t|^e peo ple lived and 
workecTa nd dres sed, — a ll of the pf^ flud tti^^tiv 
other suDoramate problems wo u ld creat e 
w hat might be called a^^ naturaT^^ dem and for 
the mtormation which , under the old er 
method, would be presented sy stemfltip.fl,]|y 
and somewhat abstractly . 
"TL'here is^an important place for the prob- 
lem-method in teaching, but it is clear that it 
cannot entirely replace systematic and pro- 
gressive study. It s value lies c hiefly, in 
b ringing about ai T^initia l momentum f or 
le arning . The mpfh^^ sTuvnld also be used ^ s 
a stimulating var ian t, breakin g the mon ot- 
o ny of a too l ogica l and^ bst ract prog ^dme. 
Most children,^once~l:hey have gained a start 
in study, will be able and willing to work 
systematically. Everything depends upon 
the skill with which the teacher passes from 
step to step, linking the new with the old, 
and gradually building up a whole that is 
composed of well-articulated parts. 

The Philosophy of the Law 

4. However much teachers may neglect it 
in practice, they readily admit that without 



32 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

attention the pupil cannot learn. One may as 
well talk to the deaf or to the dead as to at- 
tempt to teach a child who is wholly inatten- 
tive. All this may seem perhaps too obvious 
to need discussion, but a brief survey of the 
facts which underlie the law will make clear 
its force and authority. 

5. Knowledge cannot be passed like a ma- 
terial substance from one mind to another, 
for thoughts are not objects which may be 
held and handled. I deas can be communi - 
c ated only by ind uci ng in the r eceivmg: min d 
p rocesses corresp on ding^ to those by whic h 
t hese ideas w ere nrst conceived. I deas mus t 
b e rethou^t^ exper ience mustl be r eexp en- 
e nced . It is obvious, therefore, that some- 
thing more is require d t han a mere p resent a- 
ti on,; the pupil must t hink. He must work 
with a fixed aim and purpose, — in other 
words, with attention. It is not enough to 
look and listen. If the mind is only half 
aroused, the conceptions gained will be faint 
and fragmentary, — as inaccurate and useless 
as they are fleeting. Teacher and text-book 
may be full of information but the learner 
will get from them only so much as his power 
of attention enables him to shape in his own 
mind. 

6. The notion that the mind is only a re- 
ceptacle in which to stow other people's ideas 



The Law of the Learner 33 

is entirely incorrect. The nature of mind, 
as far as we can understand it, is that of a 
power, or force, actuated by motives. The 
striking clock may sound in the ear, and 
the passing object may paint its image 
in the eye, but the inattentive mind neither 
hears nor sees. Who has not read a whole 
page with the eyes, and at the bottom found 
himself unable to recall a single idea that it 
contained? The senses had done their work, 
but the mind had been busy with other 
thoughts. 

7. The vigor of mental action, like that 
of muscular action, is proportioned to the 
stimulus which inspires it. The pupil's 
mind may not at once respond to the com- 
mand of the teacher, nor to the call of a cold 
sense of duty. It is only when we begin our 
work **with a will" — that is, with interest 
in our work — that we are working with max- 
imal e:ffectiveness. Unexpected reserve 
powers come forth when the demand is strong 
enough. "With growing interest, attention 
grows, and we are enabled to accomplish 
more. 

Sources of Interest 

8. The so urces of interest, wh ich are the 
ap proaches to fltt gntigQ, are ^^^^J - Each 
s ense-organ i s a g ateway to th e Tmri<\ nf tb^ 
pupiT Infants are lured by a bit of bright 



34 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

ribbon, and will cease crying to gaze upon 
some strange object swung before their eyes. 
T he orator \g} ^p^^f urin g^ hand, hi s smiling, o r 
pa ssionate loo k, h is many-tonec^ voice, often 
d o more to Kol d the atten tio n of his auditors 
t han the mean in g^of his sp^e ck T he mind 
flfTi^ds to th^t whid^jaak^ a jn>pwprf n l,jap-" 
p eal to the sensg s. 

9. The teacher may not have the orator ^s 
opportunity for free gesticulation and com- 
manding use of the voice; but within nar- 
rower limits he has it in his power to use 
face, voice, and hand. A sudden pause, with 
l ifted hand^ wil l arr est confusion and cau se 
th e -pupils toTTsten an d^prive attention. _ . TJ|;je 
s howing of a pict ure, or of some other illu s- 
tr ative materiairwi ll att ract the most car e- 
le ss and awaken "Tlie jj iost apathetic, The 
s udden raismg or lowering of the voic e 
a rouses fresh "atte ntion. All of these have 
value. 

But let it be remembered that th ese arg 
o nly devices t o be empli2^£djda£lLJl£caasary ; 
y our effort a t al j^times^s h ould be to mak e 
y our presentation so interestin g that thp at- 
ten tion of the j )upils will follow i t. Teach 
t he pupils to con cent rate : they w ill soon pj_ss 
t hrough thft sfl^gft of active a tiention and 
r each the effecti ve st age of sec ond ary passiv e 
att M^Mq^ . Eesort to artiiicial stimuli only 
as a last means to gain attention. 



The Law of the Learner 35 

10. A source of ge nuine in ter est may be 
fo und in the rel ation of t he lesson to som e- 
t hing in me pa st li fe of the learner^ ,^ an'd a 
s till richer on^ i n the rel at ion of the less on 
to his future . We may add to these the sym- 
pathetic mterest inspired by the teacher ^s 
delight in the theme, and by the emulation of 
the pupil's fellow-learners in the same field. 
All these touch the pupiPs personality, for 
an appeal is made to enlightened self-interest. 

Interest Varies with Age 

11. The sources of in tere st vary with the 

st ages of growt h a nd intelligence . This fact 
is important. The child of six, in general, 
feels no interest in and gives no attention to 
many themes which attract the youth of six- 
teen. Children_ and adults_are often inter- 
es ted in the same scenns and obJer,ts7^nt 
us ually not in the sa me p hases of the m. The 
child finds some striking fact of sense or 
some personal gratification an adequate 
stimulus to attention; the adult attends to 
the profounder relations, to the causes 
of the consequences. As children approach 
maturity, their interests tend to change from 
the concrete and more self-centered things 
to the abstract and ultimate. 



36 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

Since attention follows interest, i t is foll y 
to a ttempt to gain att ention without fiy st 
st imulating interest It is true that it is the 
duty of children to pay attention to the per- 
formance of their lessons; but the sense of 
duty must be felt by the child as well as by 
the teacher. In the very little child, this 
sense of duty may be represented in part by 
affection and sympathy, and through these 
he may be made to feel the claims of obliga- 
tions which he cannot as yet fully under- 
stand. The little pupil may thus be led to 
feel an interest in things which the teacher 
loves and praises, before he has come fully 
to comprehend their importance. 

12. The power of at tention increases with 
th e mental development, ^ nd is proportioned 
to the years of th ^ olf^^^± Very short les- 
sons will exhaust the attention of little chil- 
dren. ** Little and often" should be the rule 
for teaching these little people. Prolonged 
attention belongs to more mature minds. 

Hindrances to Attention 

13. The two chief h ind rances to a jtantion 
are apathy and distraction. Tlio fovTYir^ 
may be due to aj ack of taste fo r the subj ect 
u nder consideration^ or t o weariness or some 
ot her physical conditio n. Dis traction is th e 
division of the attention among several oh- 



The Law of the Learner 37 

j ects, a n d is the foe of all learning . If the 
apathy or distraction conies from fatigue or 
illness, the wise teacher will not attempt to 
force the lesson. 

Rules for Teachers 

Out of this Law of the Learner emerge 
some of the most important rules of teach- 
ing: 

(1) N ever begin a cl ass exerc ise until t he 
at tention __QiL_the class h as l^e en secure d. 
Study for a moment the faces'^ the pupils 
to see if all are mentally, as well as bodily, 
present. 

(2) Pause w h enever the a tte ntion is inter- 
r upted or lo st, and wa it until it is complete ly 
r egainej . 

(3) Never wholly ex haust fhp attentioT^ o f 
younpuj^s. JStop as soon as signs of fatigue 
appear. 

(4) Adant the le ug^^h o^ ^^^^ plagg pvpr^jjap 
to _the a.2:es o f t he ipupils ; the younger the 
pupils, the briefer the lesson. 

(5) Arouse a ttention whf^r nor^ogggj-Y Yj 
TTQTMQfy 11^ y^^iy^ p^/^pn-pf ,c,f ^ ^p^ l^^t be carcful 
to avoid distractions ; keep the real lesson in 
view. 

(6) Kindle and maintain fh^ hi ghost po s- 
s ilple interest in the subject . Interest and at- 
tention react upon each other. 



38 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

(7) Pre sent those aspects of the lesson , 
a nd use"sif ^ jjlnsfrnfinTiQ ^^ ^ yill corresp'^ d 
to the ages and attai nments of the pupi ls. 

(8) Appeal whenever possible to the inter- 
ests of your pupils. 

(9) THe~favorite stories, songs, and sub- 
jects of the pupn gare ott^aJbzIl o theirlu; 
te rest and attention . Find out what these 
are, and make u se of them. ^ 

(lU) Look for sources ot' rjistr^ pfinTi^ si|y.Ti 

as unusual noises^ jns ide the classroom a nd 
o ut, and reduce them to a miTiiTmi TTi. 

(11) Pre pare beforehand thought-provo k- 
i ng questions ! Be sure that these are not 
beyond the ages and attainments of your 
pupils. 

(12) MaTrAjr^]7r prpapTitflfion as attractive 
as possible, using ill ustrations and all leg iti- 
mate devices . Do not, however, let these 
devices be so prominent as themselves to 
become sources of distraction. 

(13) Maintain and e xhibit in yon r self the 
clos^est^ttgjitiQii to and,maaL^finuiiie_.inter^t 
in the lessor ^ True enthusiasm is contagious. 

(14) Study the best use of the eye and the 
hand. Your pupils will respond to your earn- 
est gaze and your lifted hand. 



The Law of the Learner 39 

Violations and Mistakes 

The violations of the Law of the Learner 
are numerous and they constitute the most 
serious errors of many teachers. 

(1) Eecitations are commenced before the 
attention of the pupils has been gained, and 
continued after it has ceased to be given. One 
might as well begin before the pupils have 
entered the room, or continue after they have 
left. 

(2) Pupils are urged to listen after their 
power of attention has been exhausted, and 
when fatigue has set in. 

(3) Little or no effort is made to discover 
the tastes or experiences of the pupils, or to 
create a real interest in the subject. The 
teacher, himself feeling no great interest in 
his work, seeks to compel the attention which 
he is unable to attract, and awakens disgust 
instead of delight. 

(4) Not a few teachers kill the power of 
attention in their pupils by failing to utilize 
any fresh inquiries or any new, interesting 
statements to stimulate interest in the sub- 
ject. They drone on through their work, 
thinking of it themselves as routine. Nat- 
urally the pupils soon assume the same 
attitude. 



40 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

What wonder that through these and other 
violations of this law of teaching our school- 
rooms are often unattractive and their suc- 
cess so limited! And if _obedience to the se 
vu Te stis so impo rta nt in the public school s, 
wh ere the attendance o f ch ildren is compelle d, 
ATI d where the profes sio nal instructor teacn es 
w itF f uU authority of the law, it is all "^ e 
more nec p«««T-y in the Sunday school, wher e 
att endance and teaching are voluntary . The 
Sunday-school teacher who would win 
the richest and best results of teaching should 
give to this Law of the Learner his best 
thought and most thorough obedience. He 
should master the art of gaining and keep- 
ing attention, and of exciting genuine in- 
terest, and he will rejoice at the fruitfulness 
of his work. 



Chapter IV 
THE LAW OF THE LANGUAGE 

1. We have now, confronting each other, 
the teacher with his law of knowledge, 
and the learner with his condition of inter- 
ested attention. We are next to study the 
medium of communication between them and 
learn the Law of the Language. 

2. Two persons, who have material bodies 
which are limiting prisons, are to be brought 
into intellectual intercourse — the fine com- 
merce of thought and feeling. There are no 
known spiritual connections between indi- 
viduals in this world. Here the organs of 
sense are parts of material bodies, and can 
be touched and impressed only by matter and 
material phenomena. Out of these phenom- 
ena persons must construct the s^nnbols and 
signs by which they can signal to one an- 
other the ideas which they wdsh to communi- 
cate. A system of such s3rmbols or signs is a 
language. It may consist of the picture- 
writing of the savage races, the alphabet- 
systems of civilized peoples, the manual 
signs of the deaf-mutes, the oral speech of 
the hearing; but, whatever its form, it is 
language — a medium of communication be- 



42 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

tween minds, a necessary instrument of 
teaching, and having, like all other factors in 
the teaching art, its own law. 

3. This law, like those already discussed, 
is as simple as an every-day fact. It may be 
stated as follows: 

The language used in teaching must he 
common to teacher and learner. In other 
words, it must be understood by each, with 
the same meaning to both. 

The Philosophy of the Law 

4. The Law of the Language reaches 
down into the deepest facts of mind, and 
runs out to the widest connections of thought 
with life and with the world in which we live. 
The power of^thooght rests largely upon 
this fabric oLspjeedi. 

5. L angua ge in its simplest form is ja 
system o? arfifi^al ^^gng^ Its separate words 
or signs may have no likeness to the things 
they sign ifYy and no meanings, except those 
that we give to tliem arbitrarily. A word is 
the "sign of aiTidea only to the one who has 
the ideaandVho has learned the word as i!s 
sign or symbol. Without the image or the 
idea in the mind, the word comes to the ear 
only as a sound without meaning, a sign of 
nothing at all. No one has more language 
than he has learned. The vocabulan^ of the 



The Law of the Language 43 

teacher may be many times larger than that 
of the pupil, but the child ^sjdeas are repre- 
s ented by hii^ -cmpnTJTlary^ flTTj_f}iP teacher 
must come with in this sphere^o f the chil(i2s 
la nguage pow er if he would be janderstoo^. 
Outside of these limits, the language of the 
teacher will be characterized by lack of mean- 
ing, or perhaps perverted meaning, in pro- 
portion as the unfamiliar words exceed the 
familiar ones. 

6. Maiiy__jEarda^ in 9ur_ languaga . Jiase 
more than_pne meanings For example, con- 
sider the following expressions: mind and 
matter; what is the matter? what matters it? 
it is a serious matter? the suhject-matter . . .; 
the same word is made to carry several mean- 
ings. This variety, of naean in gs may enrirh 
words for the use of the orator or the poet, 
but It presents difficulty for th e voun g 
leajrner. Having mastered a word as the 
sign of a familiar idea, he is suddenly con- 
fronted by it with a new and unknown 
meaning. He has learned, perhaps, to tie a 
horse to a post, when he hears the strange 
text, ^^My days are sivifter than a post/' or 
reads the warning, ''Post no hills/' and 
hears of a ''military post.'' The teacher, 
knowing all the meanings of his words, and 
guided by the context in selecting the one 
required by the thought, reads on or talks on. 



44 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

thinking perhaps that his language is rich 
in ideas and bright with meaning; but his 
pupils, knowing perhaps only a single mean- 
ing for each word, are stopped by great gaps 
in the sense, bridged only by sounds without 
meaning which puzzle and confuse them. It 
would often amuse us if we could know what 
ideas our words call up in little children. 
The boy who wanted to see ^Hhe wicked -flea 
whom no man pursueth, ' ' and the other who 
said, **Don^t view me with a cricket ^s eye,'' 
have many companions in the schools. 

The Vehicle of Thought 

7. L^ngua^ehas been called the vehicle 
of thought; but it does not carry thoughts 
as trucks carry goods, to fill an empty store- 
house. Rather it c onveys them as the wires 
convey telegrams, as_^signalsJiiJhex£rr.e.mng 
oHeratoTj^who must retranslate the messages 
f rom the tick s lie^^i?^^! Not what^^e ^ 
s peaker expres ses fromTiLs own mind, J)ut 
what the hearer understand^ and reproduces 
in his mln^T^neasures the communicating 
powBF ofTire^ langua^ jij^^ Words thirare 
poor^nd weak to the young and untrained 
may be eloquent with many rich and impres- 

\ sive meanings to the mature, trained mind. 

\ Thus the simple word art may mean ^' craft'' 
to some minds, a mechanic's ^Hrade," or 




The Law of the Language 45 

even the pretense of a hypocrite ; to a Reyn- 
olds or a Ruskin it is also the expression of 
all that is beautiful in human achievement, 
and of all that is elevating in civilization. It 
speaks of paintings, sculpture and cathe- 
drals, and of all that is beautiful in nature, 
in landscape, sky, and sea — all that is noble 
or picturesque in history and life — all that 
is hidden in the moral and aesthetic nature of 
man. MenTsjgrds are like ships laden with, 
the j-iches of eve rv_^hore of kiiowiedge_which 
t heir owner has j isited ; while the wpxd&--Qf 
the-x?hild are but toy boats oii which are 
lo^dgi-th^-eimple notiona^e has pickej.jup 
in_hia_ brief experien ce. 

8. So, too, word s often come to be like d 
or disliked for th e ideas they sugge st. Thus 
the word religion to many is sublime with 
the divinest and most profound meanings. 
It paints on the dark background of human 
history, filled with sin and sorrow, all that is 
glorious in the character and government of 
God, all that is highest in faith and feeling, 
and all that is hopeful and bright in the 
future of man. To the more worldly, re- 
ligion is sometimes the name of a mass of 
more or less disagreeable ceremonies or of 
distasteful duties. To the atheist it suggests 
superstition and creeds. In some degree, 
such variations of meaning belong to hun- 



46 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

dreds of the common words of our language. 
That teacher will do the best work who 
chooses his words wisely, raising the most 
and the clearest images in the minds of his 
pupils. 

9. The reason goes further. In all ^f- 
^§^iyj:i.§.§5kyJiV thought passes in two dTrec- 
tions^— from pupil to te acher a s well as from 
t eacher to pupil . It is as necessary for the 

teacherjllll^ to iinrlprsfaTiH fhA phiirij Ra~ tor 

th e child to rnidftrstand f^p t^^^her. Often- 
times a pupil will load ordinary words with 
some strange, false, or distorted meanings, 
and the mistakes may remain uncorrected 
for years. Children are often compelled by 
their very poverty of speech to use words 
with other than their correct meanings. The 
teacher must learn the needs of the pupil 
from his words. 

The Instrument of Thought 

10. But ImignflgP. i> fhfi in<itrum.PAiI^ fisi 

well as the vehicle of thought. Words are 
tools under the plastic touch of which the 
mind reduces the crude mass of its impres- 
sions into clear and valid conceptions. Ideas 
become incarnate in words ; they take form in 
language, and stand ready to be studied and 
known, to be marshaled into the mechanism 
of intelligible thought. Until they are thus 
given expression, they are like vague phan- 



The Law of the Language 47 

toms, indistinct and intangible. I t is one o£ 
t he in ost importRnt functions.j)f teachmgjfco 
helpj Ee child to ^ain a full and clear expres^ 
s ion of what h e alr eady k nows impei;fectlv. 
No teaching is complete that does not issue 
in plain and intelligent expression of the 
lesson ; this means that the expression should 
be in the language of the child, and not mere 
repetition of ready-made definitions of some 
one else, in words very likely in many cases 
to be totally unfamiliar. 

11. We may go even further and say that 
talking is thinking, for ideas must precede 
words in all but parrot speech. The most 
useful, and sometimes the most difficult, 
processes in thinking are those in which we 
fit words to ideas. The full and clear state- 
ment of a problem is often the best part of 
solving it. Ideas rise before us at first like 
the confused mass of objects in a new land- 
scape; to put them into clear and correct 
words and sentences is to make the landscape 
familiar. 

" Thoughts disentangle passing o'er the lip." 

12. We master truth by expressing it, and 
are glad when we have clearly expressed our 
thought. But in order to make talking into 
thinking, there must be independent and 
original effort, not a mere parrot-like repeti- 



48 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

tion of the words of other people. The pupil 
himself must do much of the talking. What 
teacher has not watched the battle when 
a little group of children have attacked 
some knotty problem, and each has tried 
to reduce the truth to proper speech? and 
how proud the victor when he has forced the 
thought into fitting words which all recog- 
nized as the true expression! Kriisi^ tells 
of one of his pupils who was told to write 
a letter to his parents, and complained: 
**It is hard for me to write a letter.'' 
**Why! you are now a year older, and 
ought to be better able to do it." ^^Yes, 
but a year ago I could say everything 
I knew, but now I know more than I 
can say. ' ' Kriisi adds : * * This answer aston- 
ished me." It will surprise all of us who 
have not thought of the difficulty of obtaining 
sufficient mastery of language to express our 
thoughts. 

13. L anguag e has still another use ; it j^ 
t he storehouse of our knowle dg:^^ All that 
we know may be found laid up in the words 
concerning it. Thus words are not only the 
signs of our ideas, but they are clues by 
which we recover and recognize those ideas 
at will, and in the manifold derivative forms 

1 Hermann Kriisi was a friend and fellow-worker of the great Swiss 
■choolmaster and educational reformer, Pestalozzi (1746-1827). 



The Law of the Language 49 

and combinations of these words, we store 
up the modifications and relations of the 
notion of which the simple word is the sym- 
bol. A group of words like act, acted, acting, 
actor, actress, action, actionable, active, ac- 
tively, actual, actually, actualize, actuality, 
actuate, suggests a large volume of facts 
concerning persons, movements, relations, 
qualities, etc. 

14. The langu ngf^ ftf th? nhUfi^ then, may 
be considered_nol„only_tha-m£asure_of_Jiis 
at tainm e_ n"tvl) ut the.exnhodimeiit of the elg- 
ments of his knowledge^ W hen we emp lo y 
iri_ori r_f.ftfl.p.hiTig' th e language of our 'pup ils, 
WA gnmTYinT] fr^ mm aid Jhmv acquired expe- 
rience. New words must be learned when 
new objects are to be named or new ideas are 
to be symbolized; but if care is taken that 
the idea shall go before the word, and that 
the word is mastered as a symbol before it 
is used in speech, it will guide and illumine 
rather than cloud the child's perception. 

The Language of Objects 

15. W ords are not the^ only medium 
thr ough whicli to spe ak. Th ere are many 
ways jfco express^ thought. Thejeye,^ the head, 
fhp hanrl ^ thf> font^ the shoulder, are often 
u sed in speech in ways that are most intel- 
ligible. Among savage peoples whose laiP 



50 The Seven Laivs of Teaching 

guage is too meager to meet their needs, 
symbolic actions often take the place of 
words. The gestures of some speakers fre- 
quently tell more than the spoken sentences 
of others. There .is speech also in pictures. 
From rough sketches on the blackboard to 
paintings that are works of art, teaching by 
pictorial representation is swift and impres- 
sive. 

16. Finally, nature aids speech. 

"... she speaks a various language." 

Her innumerable forms are always ready as 
effective illustrations, and her analogies 
throw light on many deep problems. No 
teaching was ever more instructive than the 
parables of Jesus, drawn from nature around 
him. 

17. Ordinary artificial language probably 
must be the chief means of communication 
between teacher and pupil; but no wise 
teacher will forego the aid of all these vari- 
ous means of entrance to the minds of their 
pupils. Language by itself is at best but an 
imperfect medium of thought, and no one 
knows this better than the experienced 
teacher, who has sometimes found it in- 
eifective, and who has been compelled to re- 
sort to any available means of illustration 
to make himself understood. 



The Law of the Language 51 

18. This discussion 



no t be intftrprfitfi d as .an eagoura gement to 
the teacher to hefio me a lec turer before his 
class. The lecture is useful in its place, but 
its'place is small in a school for children. It 
will be shown elsewhere that a too talkative 
teacher is rarely a good teacher. An ac- 
curate knowledge of language is, however, of 
great advantage; those who talk little should 
certainly talk well, and those who expect to 
teach through language should know lan- 
guage themselves. 

Rules for Teachers 

Out of our Law of Language, thus defined 
and explained, flow some of the most useful 
rules for teaching. 

(1) Study constantly and carefully the lan- 
guage of the pupils, to learn what words they 
use and what meanings they give to these 
words. 

(2) Secure from them as full a statem.ent 
as possible of their knowledge of the subject, 
to learn both their ideas and their modes of 
expressing them, and to help them to correct 
their knowledge. 

(3) Express yourself as far as possible in 
the language of your pupils, carefully correct- 
ing any errors in the meaning they read into 
vour words. 



52 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

(4) Use the simplest and the fewest words 
that will express your meaning. Unneces- 
sary words add to the child ^s work, and in- 
crease the possibilities for misunderstanding. 

(5) Use short sentences, of the simplest 
construction. Long sentences are dijfficult to 
attend to and are frequently confusing to 
children. 

(6) If the pupil obviously fails to under- 
stand you, repeat your thought in other lan- 
guage, if possible with greater simplicity. 

(7) Help the meaning of the words by il- 
lustrations; natural objects and pictures are 
to be preferred for young children. Take 
illustrations from the children's own expe- 
riences whenever possible. 

(8) When it is necessary to teach a new 
word, give the idea before the word. This 
can be done best by simple illustrations 
closely related to the children's own expe- 
rience. 

(9) Try to increase the number of the 
pupil's words, and at the same time improve 
the clearness of meaning. Eeal enlargement 
of a child 's vocabulary means an increase of 
his knowledge and power. 

(10) As the acquisition of language is one 
of the important aims in the process of edu- 
cation, do not be content to have your pupils 
listen in silence very long at a time, no mat- 



The Law of the Language 53 

ter how attentive they are. Encourage them 
to talk freely. 

(11) Here, as everywhere in teaching the 
young, make haste sloivly. Each word 
should be learned thoroughly before others 
are added. 

(12) Test frequently the pupil's under- 
standing of the words that he uses, to make 
sure that he attaches no incorrect meaning 
and that he sees the true meaning as vividly 
as possible. 

Violations and Mistakes 

This third law of teaching is violated more 
frequently than the best teachers suspect. 

(1) The interested look of the pupils often 
cheats the teachers into the belief that his 
lang-uage is thoroughly understood, and all 
the more easily because the pupil himself 
may be deceived and say that he under- 
stands, when he has perhaps caught only a 
mere glimpse of the meaning. 

(2) Children are often entertained by the 
manner of the teacher, and seem attentive to 
his words when really they are watching only 
his eyes, lips, or actions. Again, they will 
sometimes profess to understand simply to 
please their instructor and gain his praise. 

(3) The misuse of language is one of the 
common faults in teaching. Not to mention 



54 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

those teachers who attempt to cover up their 
own ignorance or indolence with a cloud of 
verbiage which they know the children will 
not understand, and omitting also those who 
are more anxious to exhibit their own wis- 
dom than to teach others, there are still many 
honest teachers who try hard to make the 
lesson clear, and then think that their duty 
is done; that if the children do not under- 
stand, it must be either from wilful inatten- 
tion or hopeless stupidity. Th ese teache rs 
donotsus^^tL-that th ey may ha ve usM- 
words wEch had_n .Q mea ning for the cla ss, 
or into which the_^ hil dren read a WL ong 
meanmg. 

^(4) it may be a single unusual or misun- 
derstood term that breaks the connection, 
but it does not occur to the teacher to hunt 
tip the break and restore the connection. 
Children do not always ask for explanations, 
discouraged sometimes by fear of the 
teacher, or shame for their own ignorance, 
and too often they are charged with stupidity 
or inattention when no amount of attention 
would have helped them to understand the 
unfamiliar language. 

(5) Even those teachers who naturally use 
simple language to their classes sometimes 
fail in the higher uses of this instrument of 
teaching. They do not take the trouble to 



The Law of the Language 55 

secure from the child in return some clear 
statement, and they have, therefore, no test 
of their success. The children do not talk 
themselves, nor are their vocabularies 
enlarged. 

(6) Many teachers have no proper appre- 
ciation of the wonderful character and com- 
plexity of language; they do not reflect that 
modern society could scarcely exist without 
speech. Many persons have decidedly lim- 
ited vocabularies. It has often been found 
that one of the greatest obstacles to the gen- 
eral enlightenment of people lies in their lack 
of the knowledge through which they must 
be addressed. A commission from the Brit- 
ish Parliament was once sent to investigate 
the language of the coal miners and other 
laborers of England in order to ascertain the 
possibility of diffusing useful information 
among them by means of tracts and books. 
It was found that their knowledge of lan- 
guage, in a large number of the cases exam- 
ined, was entirely too meager to permit of 
such a means of instruction. How much 
greater this deficiency must be among the 
young, whose experience is so much more 
limited. If we would teach children suc- 
cessfully, we must widen and deepen this 
channel of communication between them and 
ourselves. 



56 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

(7) Many of the topics studied in school 
lie outside the daily life and language of 
the children; and every science has a lan- 
guage of its own which must be mastered by 
the student who makes any progress in it. 
T he teacher in the Sunday s^^ '^ol s^'^^'^^^ 
rec ognize that here lies one of hi s probleni s ; 
nianyTim es the facts and trutns of religi^D u 
areTi^eTy to bedistorted by the half -under - 
s tood terms in wh i ch they are tolcj . To tj i e 
t eacher of children in the schools of Bibl e 
learning should co me the warnmg to mak e 
his words clear."' " 



Chapter V 
THE LAW OF THE LESSON 

1. Our fourth law takes us at once to the 
core of teaching. The first three laws dealt 
with the teacher, the learner, and the lan- 
guage, the medium of communication between 
them. We come now to the lesson, the proc- 
ess to be mastered, the problem to be solved. 
This is where the teacher must pass on to the 
pupils the recorded experience of the race; 
the method of transmission of this crystal- 
lized race experience must be such as to in- 
spire these pupils with principles that shall 
be active forces in their lives, and at the 
same time furnish them with an instrument 
of research and further study, — this is the 
very heart of the work of the teacher, the 
condition and instrument, as well as the cul- 
mination and the fruit, of all the rest. 

2. It is the Law of the Lesson that we are 
next to seek. Passing, as remote from this 
discussion, the steps by which the mind of 
an infant obtains its first notions of the world 
about it, we may go at once to the obvious 
fact that our pupils learn the new by the aid 
of the old and familiar. The new and un- 
known can be explained only by the familiar 



68 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

and the known. This, then, is the Law of the 
Lesson: 

The truth to he taught must he learned 
through truth already known. 

3. This law is neither so simple nor so 
obvious as those that have preceded it; but 
it is no less certain than they, while its scope 
is even wider and its relations are perhaps 
even more important. 

Philosophy of the Law 

4. The Law of the Lesson has its reason 
in the nature of mind and in the nature of 
human knowledge. 

5. All teaching must begin at some point 
of the subject or lesson. If the subject is 
wholly new, then a known point must be 
sought by showing some likeness of the new 
to something known and familiar. Even 
among grown persons, the skilful narrator 
struggles to find some comparison with 
familiar experiences, seeking some likeness 
of the unknown to something known before 
proceeding with his story. Until this start- 
ing-point is found, he knows that it will be 
useless to go on. To do so would be like tell- 
ing some one to follow you over a winding 
path in the darkness without first letting him 
know where you are or starting him on the 
path. Naturally, if adults must have this 



The Law of the Lesson 59 

aid, children can scarcely be expected to do 
without it. Often pupils in the schools ex- 
plain their inability to understand the lesson 
by the simple statement: *^I did not know 
what the teacher v/as talking about. *' The 
fault lies distinctly with the teacher in such 
a case. 

6. All teaching must advance in some 
direction. Its proper direction of march 
should be toward the acquisition of new ex- 
periences. To teach over again what is al- 
ready acquired and understood is to check 
the desire of the pupils for obtaining further 
knowledge and to deaden their power of 
attention by compelling them to walk in a 
treadmill, instead of leading them forward 
to the inspiration of new scenes and the con- 
quest of new fields. It is a serious error to 
keep the studies of pupils too long on 
familiar ground, under the assumed neces- 
sity for thoroughness. Old mines may be 
reworked if you can find ore at deeper levels, 
and old lessons may be worked over if new 
uses may be made of them. At this point it 
should be borne in mind that this does not 
contradict the Law of Review, to be discussed 
later. 

7. Learning must proceed by graded 
steps. These steps must be those which link 
one fact or concept to another, as simple and 



60 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

concrete things lead naturally to general 
and abstract things, as premises lead to con- 
clusions, and as an understanding of natural 
phenomena leads to laws. Each new idea 
mastered becomes a part of the knowledge 
of the child, a part of his equipment of race 
experience, and serves as a starting-point for 
a fresh advance. It adds its own light to 
the knowledge that preceded it, and throws 
increased illumination forward for the next 
discovery. But each step must be fully mas- 
tered before the next is taken, or ^the pupilg 
may find themselves proceeding mto un- 
known fields without the proper preparation. 
It is here that the demand for thoroughness 
arises; everything in the lesson which is 
within the range of the child's comprehen- 
sion, should be fully understood. Thorough- 
ness of this sort is the essential condition of 
true teaching. Imperfect understanding at 
any point clouds the whole process. The 
pupil who has mastered one . lesson, half 
knows the next; therefore the well-taught 
class is always eager for the next step. One 
of the sayings of Pestalozzi was, ^^It is easy 
to add to what is already discovered.'' 

8. But the philosophy of this law goes 
deeper still. It must be remembered that 
knowledge is not a mass of simple, inde- 
pendent facts; it is made up of the experi- 



The Law of the Lesson 61 

ence of the race crystallized and orgxmized 
in^tlie form of facts together with their laws 
and relations. Facts are linked together in 
systems, associated by resemblances of one 
sort or another. Each fact leads to, and ex- 
plains, another. The old reveals the new; 
the new confirms and corrects the old. 

9. All this pertains equally to the limited 
knowledge and experience of children as well 
as to riper and maturer knowledge. New ele- 
ments of knowledge must be brought into 
relation with other facts and truths already 
known before they themselves can be fully 
revealed and take their place in the widening 
circle of the experience of the learner. Thus 
the very nature of knowledge compels us to 
seek the new through the aid of the old. 

10. The act of hnoiving is in part an act 
of comparing and judging, — of finding some- 
thing in past experience that will explain 
and make meaningful the new experience. If 
a friend tells us of an experience or an ad- 
venture, we interpret his story by a running 
comparison with whatever has been most like 
it in our o^vn experience; and if he states 
something utterly without likeness to any- 
thing that we have Imown, we ask him for 
explanations or illustrations which may 
bring the strange facts into relation with 
our point of view. If children are told some- 



62 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

thing novel and entirely nnfamiliar, they will 
probably struggle in vain to understand, and 
then ask for further information or light, if 
they do not at once abandon the attempt to 
connect the new idea with their own experi- 
ence. Figures of speech, such as similes, 
metaphors, and allegories, have sprung out 
of the need for relating new truths to old 
and familiar scenes and objects and experi- 
ences. They are but so many attempts to 
reach the unknown through the known — they 
try to jflash light from the old upon the new. 
11. Explanation, then, means usually the 
citation and use of facts and principles al- 
ready understood to make clear the nature 
of new material. Therefore the unknown 
cannot explain the unknown. The knowl- 
edge already in the equipment of the child 
must furnish the explanation of new facts 
and laws, or these must remain unexplained. 
The difficulty so often met in answering the 
questions of little children, lies not so much 
in the difficulty of the questions themselves, 
as in the lack upon the part of the child of 
knowledge required in the explanation. To 
answer fully a boy's questions about the 
stars, you must first teach him some astron- 
omy. The lad who has seen a large city can 
perhaps understand fairly well a description 
of London or New York, but one whose ex- 



The Law of the Lesson 63 

perience lias beeu confined entirely to his 
country home, cannot properly understand 
the network of streets, walled in by build- 
ings, and the shifting panorama of city life. 

12. The very language with which new 
knowledge must be expressed takes its mean- 
ings from what is already known and 
familiar. The child without knowledge 
would be also without words, for words are 
the signs of things known. An American 
traveler in Europe might perhaps fancy that 
he could make people understand by speak- 
ing in a loud, clear voice, and with slow, care- 
ful enunciation; but his success would be 
measured only by the degree to which his 
hearers had a knowledge of the native 
tongue of the American; if they were for- 
eigners, familiar only with their own 
language, his words would be without 
meaning. 

A blunder analogous to this is that of the 
teacher who hopes by the mere urgency of 
his manner, and by his carefully chosen 
words, familiar to himself, to convey his 
ideas to the understanding of his pupils, with 
no reference to the pupils' previous knowl- 
edge of the subject. 

13. Persons use by preference only the 
clearest and most familiar things in their 
interpretation of new facts or principles. 



64 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

Each man is prone to borrow his illustra- 
tions from his calling: the soldier from the 
camps and trenches, the sailor from the ships 
and the sea, the merchant from the conditions 
of the market, and the ^^rt^isans and me- 
chanics from their crafts. Likewise in 
study, each pupil is attracted to the qualities 
which relate to his own experience. To the 
chemist, common salt is sodium chloride, a 
binary compound; to the cook it is some- 
thing to use in the seasoning of foods and in 
the preservation of meats. Each thinks of it 
in the aspect most familiar to him, and in 
this aspect would use it to illustrate some- 
thing else in which salt was concerned. 
Finding a new plant, the botanist would 
consider it in the light of known plants, to 
discover its ^^classification''; the farmer 
would be interested in its use, and the artist 
in its beauty. This bent of preference, while 
one of the elements of prejudice which may 
shut the eyes to some new truths and open 
them to others, is at the same time one of the 
elements of strength in intellectual work. 

14. A fact or principle only vaguely un- 
derstood is used only rarely and reluctantly 
— and even then sometimes most errone- 
ously — in interpreting new experiences; 
and if used, it carries only vagueness and 
imperfection into the new concepts or 



The Law of the Lesson 65 

judgments. A cloud left upon the lesson 
of yesterday casts its shadow over the 
lesson of today. On the other hand, the 
thoroughly mastered lesson throws great 
light on the succeeding ones. Hence the 
value of that practice of some able teachers 
who make the elementary portions of a 
subject as familiar as household words — 
a conquered territory from which the pupil 
may go on to new conquests as from an 
established base, with confidence and power. 

15. But it must be carefully noted that 
so complete a mastery, like all thoroughness 
in study, is really relative. No human 
knowledge or power is perfect, and the 
capacities of childhood are necessarily much 
further from completeness than those of 
adults. And there are wide individual dif- 
ferences which must be recognized in the 
school. What to some children is as clear as 
day, is to others only vaguely suggestive. 
If the teacher makes the pupils talk about 
the lesson, as was suggested in the discussion 
of the law of language, some of these differ- 
ences will be revealed, and the proper means 
of meeting them and of adjusting the in- 
struction to them, may be discovered. 

16. Our discussion of the lesson would 
be incomplete without some mention of the 
nature of the thinking process as applied to 



66 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

the solution of problems. The word ** prob- 
lem '^ is a familiar one to the teacher; the 
problems and tasks of every day life in 
the schoolroom are very close to him. But 
let us now think of the problem in a rather 
different sense. We have been speaking of 
the ^^ lesson ^^ and its ^4aw.'' Let us think 
of the process of learning lessons as akin to 
the solution of problems, as a process in 
which the learner faces a real situation, the 
mastery of which, will involve the application 
of his power of thought. How is he to think? 
17. The older notion that because the 
pupils in our schools are young and im- 
niature they are incapable of real thinking- 
is a fallacy. Too often teachers believe 
that their pupils think only in a symbolic 
way, — that they react only to artificial 
situations in which their task is to do 
what the teacher wishes, rather than to 
do real independent thinking for themselves. 
This is not necessarily true, and if true in 
some instances, the fault very likely lies 
with the teacher himself. The fact is that 
the power to think is part and parcel of the 
original mental equipment of the child, and 
develops gradually, as other capacities do. 
The situations that call out this power in 
children are simple, but they are none the 
less real. The difference in thinking between 



The Law of the Lesson 67 

the child and the adult is a difference in 
degree. 

18. If we are to set the learner at the task 
of real thinking in the solution of real prob- 
lems, we must define this process of thinking. 
There are three stages in the process. First, 
there must be a stage of doubt or uncer- 
tainty; certain things are known, and some- 
thing is to be done to them. For example, 
the loss of a cherished toy presents just this 
situation to a child: he sees what has hap- 
pened, and wonders what he can do in its 
absence — how he can replace it, perhaps. 
Second, there is an organizing stage in 
which the individual considers the means at 
his disposal to reach the ends desired. 
Lastly, there is a critical attitude involving (^^ 
selection and rejection of the schemes which 
have suggested themselves. This problem- 
atic situation arises very frequently in daily 
life, with children as well as with adults. 
The setting of school tasks should always be 
done with this process of thinking in mind; 
teachers in the day schools and in the Sunday 
schools should remember that if the train- 
ing which they give is to bear fruit, it must 
present real situations which will call forth 
this reflective attitude, and they should ab- 
jure the sorl; of tasks which can be met by 
trial and error, by blindly following the lead 



68 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

of another, or by doing what one has already 
done in a similar situation merely because 
one recognizes the new situation as like the 
other. 

19. In a very important sense, what we 
call knowledge is a record of solved prob- 
lems. Facts and laws have been collected 
and tested and organized into systems, but 
at basis they represent the results of facing 
situations and finding things out at first 
hand. In passing knowledge on to others 
the more closely we can approximate real, 
vital situations, the better will be our teach- 
ing. There are some who go so far as to 
say that no attempt should be made to im- 
part knowledge unless the child feels a dis- 
tinct need for it, — ^unless he sees that it is 
essential to solve some problem that is real 
and vital to his life. This is doubtless an 
extreme view, but it is none the less incum- 
bent upon the teacher to know what the 
problems of child life are and to utilize them 
in making his instruction just as rich and 
meaningful as possible. 

Rules for Teachers 

This law of knowledge, thus explained, 
affords to the thoughtful teacher rules of the 
highest practical value. It offers clear guid- 
ance to those who are teachers of children 



The Law of the Lesson 69 

and anxious that their task shall be well 
done. 

(1) Find out what your pupils know of the 
subject you wish to teach to them; this is 
your starting-point. This refers not only to 
text-book knowledge but to all information 
that they may possess, however acquired. 

(2) Make the most of the pupils' knowl-\^ 
edge and experience. Let them feel its \ 
extent and value, as a means to further 
knowledge. 

(3) Encourage your pupils to clear up and 
freshen their knowledge by a clear statement 
of it. 

(4) Begin with facts or ideas that lie near 
your pupils, and that can be reached by a 
single step from what is already familiar; 
thus, geography naturally begins with the 
home town, history with the pupils' own 
memories, morals with their own conscience. 

(5) Relate every lesson as much as pos- 
sible to former lessons, and with the pupils ' 
knowledge and experience. 

(6) Arrange your presentation so that 
each step of the lesson shall lead easily and 
naturally to the next. 

(7) Proportion the steps of the lesson to 
the ages and attainments of your pupils. Do 
not discourage your children with lessons or 
exercises that are too long, or fail to rise to 



70 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

the expectations of older pupils by giving 
them lessons that are too easy. 

(8) Find illustrations in the commonest 
\ and most familiar objects suitable for the 

purpose. 

(9) Lead the pupils themselves to find il- 
lustrations'from their own experience. 

(10) Make every new fact or principle 
familiar to your pupils; try to establish and 
intrench it firmly, so that it will be available 
for use in explaining new material to come. 

(11) Urge the pupils to make use of their 
own knowledge and attainments in every way 
that is practicable, to find or explain other 
knowledge. Teach them that knowledge is 
power by showing how knowledge really 
helps to solve problems. 

(12) Make every advance clear and 
familiar, so that the progress to the next 
succeeding step shall in every case be on 
known ground. 

(13) As far as possible, choose the prob- 
lems which you give to your pupils from 
their own activities, and thus increase the 
chances that they will be real and not arti- 
ficial problems. 

(14) Remember that your pupils are 
learning to think, and that to think properly 
they must learn to face intelligently and 
reflectively the problems that arise in 



The Law of the Lesson 71 

, connection with their school work, and in con- 
I nection with their life outside of school. 

s 

Mistakes and Violations 

The wide scope of this Law of the Lesson 
affords opportunity for many mistakes and 
violations. Among the more common are the 
following : 

(1) It is not unusual for teachers to set 
their pupils to studying new lessons, or even 
new subjects, for which they are inadequately 
prepared or not prepared at all, either by 
previous study or by experience. 

(2) Many teachers neglect entirely to as- 
certain carefully the pupils' equipment with 
which to begin the subject. 

(3) A conmion error is the failure to con- 
nect the new lessons with those that have 
gone before in such a way that the pupils can 
carry over what they know or have learned 
into the new field. Many individual lessons 
and recitations are treated as if each were 
independent of all the others. 

(4) Oftentimes past acquisitions are con- 
sidered goods stored away, instead of 
instrum^ents for further use. 

(5) Too often elementary facts and defini- 
tions are not made thoroughly familiar. 

(6) Every step is not always thoroughly 
understood before the next is attempted. 



72 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

(7) Some teachers err in assigning lessons 
or exercises that are too long for the powers 
of the pupils, or for their time, making im- 
possible an adequate mastery of principles 
that may be needful for future progress in 
the subject. 

(8) Teachers frequently fail to place their 
pupils in the attitude of discoverers. Chil- 
dren should learn to use what they have al- 
ready been taught in the discovery of new 
facts or principles and in the solution of new 
problems. 

(9) A common fault is the failure to show 
the connections between parts of the subject 
that have been taught and those that are yet 
to come. 

As a consequence of these and other vio- 
lations of the law, much teaching is poor, 
and its benefits, if any, are fleeting. People 
are found to have inadequate knowledge and 
to lack the power of studying for themselves. 
This is as true of Biblical knowledge as of 
any other. Instead of a related whole, a con- 
cept with one purpose, the Bible is viewed 
as scattering parts, like bits of broken glass, 
and its effect is many times only to puzzle 
and confuse ; it is never seen as a connected 
whole, as it should be. 



Chapter VI 
THE LAW OF THE TEACHING PROCESS 

1. Our survey of the teaching art has thus 
far involved these four considerations: the 
teacher, the learner, the language, and 
the lesson. We are now to study these in 
action, and to observe the conduct of the 
teacher and his pupil. The previous discus- 
sions have already brought these partly into 
view, but as each of them has its own law, 
each demands more careful consideration 
than has yet been given it. In the laws of 
the teacher and the learner, we found neces- 
sarily reflected the actions of both; but an 
actor and his part are easily separated in 
thought, and each possesses aspects and 
characteristics of its own. 

Following the natural order, the teaching 
function comes first before us, and we are 
now to seek its law. The law of the teacher 
was essentially a law of qualification ; the law 
of teaching is a law of function. 

2. Thus far we have considered teaching 
as the communication of knowledge or expe- 
rience; more properly, we should say that 
this is a result of teaching. Whether by 



74 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

telling, demonstrating, or leading pupils to 
disc-over for themselves, the teacher is trans- 
mitting experience to his pupils; that is 
his aim and purpose, and his teaching 
is conditioned by that aim. But the explana- 
tion of the work of the teacher in teims of 
function is to be distinguished from the 
definition in terms of purpose. The actual 
work of the teacher consists of the awaken- 
ing and setting in action the mind of the 
pupil, the arousing of his self-activities. As 
already shown, knowledge cannot be passed 
from mind to mind like objects from one re- 
ceptacle to another, but must in every Cx^se 
be recognized and rethought and relived by 
the receiving mind. All explanation and ex- 
position are useless except as they serve to 
excite and direct the pupil in his own think- 
ing. If the pupil himself does not think , 
t here are no result^: of thp fpflPhir|o^; th^ 
words of the teache r are falling upon de^f 
ears., 

3. We are now ready to state 

The Law of Teaching 

Excite and direct the self-activities of the 
pupil, and as a rule tell him nothing that he 
can learn himself, 

4. The second clause in this law is of suf- 
ficient importance to justify its position in 



The Laic of the leaching Process 75 

the f ormnlatioii of the law, although it is neg- 
atively stated. There are cases in which it 
mav be necessary to disregard this caution 
in order to save tune, or in the case of a very 
weak or discouraged pupil, or sometimes 
when intense interest has been arouse^i and 
there is a keen demand for information that 
the teacher can give quickly and effectively. 
but its violation is almost always a loss 
which should be compensated by a definite 
gaim ro-n>i«-^erM-l fiffirTnativelv. thU car;- 
ti pn would read : "Make your pupil a dis- 
coverer of truth — make him find out for 
himself.-' The great value of this lawTas 
been so often and so strongly stated as to 
demand no further proof. Xo great writer 
on education has failed to consider it in some 
form or another : if we were seeking the edu- 
cational maxim most widely received among 
good teachers, and the most extensive in its 
applications and results, we should fix upon 
this law. It is the same fundamental truth 
as the one found in such rules as the follow- 
ing: "'TTake up your pupils' minds": '"Set 
the pupils to th ink ing": ^'Arouse the spirit 
of inquiry''; ^'Get your pupils to work.'' 
All these familiar maxims are different 
expressions of this same law. 

In discussing the principles of attention. 
language, and knowledge, we have considere*i 



76 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

to some extent the operations of the mind. 
We should now study these further. 

Philosophy of the Law 

5. We can learn without ^ teaohpr, Chil- 
dren learn hundreds of facts before they ever 
see a school, sometimes with the aid of 
parents or others, often by their own unaided 
efforts. In the greater part of our acquisi- 
tions we are self-taught, and i t is quite gen - 
e ^^ally conceded that that knowledge is most 
p ermanent and best which is dug out by un - 
aided research. Everything, at the outset, 
must be learned by the discoverer without an 
instructor, since no instructor knows it. If, 
then, we can learn without being taught, it 
follows that the true function of the teacher 
is to create the most favorable conditions 
for self -learning. Essentially the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge must be brought about by 
the same agencies and through the use of the 
same methods, whether with or without a 
teacher. 

6. What, then, is the use of schools, and 
what is the necessity for a teacher? The 
question is pertinent, but the answer is plain. 
Knowledge in its natural state lies scattered 
and confused; it is connecfed, to be sure, in 
great systems, but these connections are laws 
and relations unknown to the beginner, and 



The Laiv of the Teaching Process 11 

they are to be learned by man only through 
ages of observation and careful study. The 
school selects for its curriculum what it re- 
gards as the most useful of the experiences 
of the race, organizes these, and offers them 
to the pupils along with its facilities for 
learning. It offers to these pupils leisure and 
quiet for study, and through its books and 
other materials of education the results 
of other people ^s labors, which may serve as 
charts of the territories to be explored, and 
as beaten paths through the fields of knowl- 
edge. True teaching, then, is not that which 
gives knowledge, but that which stimulates 
pupils to gain it. O ne might say that h e 
teach es test who teaches Ipast; p r fViaf. Tip, 
te ^ciies best whosepupils learn most witho ut 
b ei ng taught directl y But we should be a r 
in mind that in these epigrammatic state- 
ments two meanings of the word teaching 
are involved, — one, simply telling, the other 
creating the conditions of real learning. 

7. That teacher is a sympathizing guide 
whose knowledge of the subjects to be 
studied enables him properly to direct the 
efforts of the pupil, to save him from a 
waste of time and strength, from needless 
difficulties. But no aid of school or teacher 
can change the operations of the mind, 
or take from the pupil his need of knowing 



78 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

for himself. The eye must do its own see- 
ing, the ear its own hearing, and the mind 
its own thinking, however much may be 
done to furnish objects of sight, sounds for 
the ear, and stimuli for the intelligence. 
The innate capacities of the child produce 
the growth of body or mind. ''If childhood 
is educated according to the measure of its 
powers,'' said Saint Augustine, ''they will 
continually grow and increase; while if 
forced beyond their strength, they decrease 
instead of increasing." The sooner the 
teacher abandons the notion that he can 
make his pupils intelligent by hard work 
upon their passive receptivity, the sooner he 
will become a good teacher and obtain the 
art, as Socrates said, of assisting the mind 
to shape and put forth its own conceptions. 
It was to his skill in this that the great Athe- 
nian owed his power and greatness among 
his contemporaries, and it was this that gave 
him his place as one of the foremost of the 
great teachers of mankind. It is the "forc - 
i ng process'' in teaching wluch sf?pR rates 
p arrot-like ^n d p^rfimctory learmn^^Jxpm 
knowing. A boy, having expressed surprise 
at the shape of the earth when he was shown 
a globe, was asked: "Did you not learn that 
in school?" He replied: "Yes, I learned it, 
but I never knew it." 



The Law of the Teaching Process 79 

8. The great aims of education are to 
acquire knowledge and ideals, and to develop 
abilities and skills. Our law derives its sig- 
nificance from both of these aims. The pupil 
must know for himself, or his knowledge will 
be knowledge in name only. The very effort 
required in the act of thus learning and 
knowing may do much to increase the capac- 
ity to learn. The pupil who is taught without 
doing any studying for himself will be like 
one who is fed without being given any exer- 
cise: he will lose both his appetite and his 
strength. 

9. Confidence in our own powers is an 
essential condition of their successful use. 
This confidence can be gained only by self- 
prompted, voluntary, and independent use of 
these capacities. We learn to walk, not by 
seeing others walk, but by walking. The 
same is true of mental abilities. 

10. The self-activities or mental powers 
do not set themselves at work without some 
motive or stimulus to put them in action. In 
ea rly life exte rn al stiniu li are stronger, and 
in riper years th e i nternal ex cita nts are th e 
onesJiQ-adii ch we re spo nd mo re_rea9ily\ To 
the young child the objects of sense — bright 
colors, live animals, and things in motion — 
are most attractive and exciting. Later in 
life, the inner facts of thought and feeling 



80 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

are more engaging. The child's mental life 
has in it an excess of sensation; the mental 
life of the adult has more reflection. 

11. But whatever the stimulus, the proc- 
esses of cognition are largely the same. 
There is the comparison of the new with the 
old, the alternating analysis and synthesis 
of parts, wholes, classes, causes, and effects ; 
the action of memory and imagination, the 
use of judgment and reason, and the effects 
upon thought of tastes and prejudices as 
they have been concerned with the previ- 
ous knowledge and experience of the learner. 
If thinking does not take place, the teacher 
has applied the stimuli in vain. He perhaps 
will wonder that his pupils do not under- 
stand, and will very likely consider them 
stupid and incompetent, or at least lazy. 
Unfortunately the stupidity is sometimes 
on the other side, and it sins against this 
law of teaching in assuming that the teacher 
can make the pupil learn by dint of vigorous 
telling, or teaching as he calls it, whereas 
true teaching only brings to bear on the 
pupiPs mind certain natural stimuli or ex- 
citants. If some of these fail, he must find 
others, and not rest until he attains the de- 
sired result and sees the activity of the child 
at work upon the lesson. 



The Law of the Teaching Process 81 

12. Comenius ^ said, over two hundred 
years ago, ^'Most teachers sow plants in- 
stead of seeds; instead of proceeding from 
the simplest principles they introduce the 
pupil at once into a chaos of books and mis- 
cellaneous studies." The figure of the seed 
is a good one, and is much older than Come- 
nius. The greatest of teachers said: ''The 
seed is the word." The true teacher stirs 
the ground and sows the seed. It is the work 
of the soil, through its own forces, to develop 
the growth and ripen the grain. 

13. The difference between the pupil who 
works for himself and the one who works 
only when he is driven is too obvious to need 
explanation. The one is a free agent, the 
other is a machine. The former is attracted 
by his work, and, prompted by his interest, 
he works on until he meets some overwhelm- 
ing difficulty or reaches the end of his task. 
The latter moves only when he is urged. He 
sees what is shown him, he hears what he is 
told, advances when his teacher leads, 
and stops just where and when the teacher 
stops. The one moves by his own activities, 
and the other by borrowed impulse. The 
former is a mountain stream fed by living 

1 Johann Amos Comenius (1592-1671) was a Moravian clergyman, 
whose efforts to reform school practices have given him an enduring 
place in the history of education. 



82 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

springs, the latter a ditch filled from a pump 
worked by another's hand. 

Knowledge Necessary to Thought 

14. The action of the mind is limited 
practically to the field of its acquired knowl- 
edge. The individual who knows nothing 
cannot thinly, for he has nothing to think 
about. In comparing, imagining, judging, 
and reasoning, and in applying knowledge 
to plan, criticize, or execute one's own 
thoughts, the mind must necessarily work 
upon the material in its possession. Hence 
the power of any object or fact as a mental 
stimulus depends in each case upon the num- 
ber of related objects or facts which the in- 
dividual already knows. A botanist will be 
aroused to the keenest interest by the dis- 
covery of a hitherto unknown plant, but will 
perhaps care little or nothing for a new stone 
or a new star. The physician eagerly studies 
new diseases, the lawyer recent decisions, 
the farmer new crops, and the mechanic new 
machines. 

15. The infant knows little, and his in- 
terest is brief and slight; the man knows 
many things, and his interests are deeper, 
wider, and more persistent. Thoughtfulness 
deepens and grows more intense with the 
increase of knowledge. The student of 



The Law of the Teaching Process 83 

mathematics who has worked long and dili- 
gently in his field never finds it dry or 
tiresome; the wisest student of the Bible 
finds in its pages the greatest delight. All 
these illustrations show the principles which 
underlie our law and prove its value. 

16. The two ch ief sprin gs o f intere st 
th rough Vhich the^^ind ('-^n he aroused ar e 
the love of knowledge fo r its own sake, th at 
is,_its ^7!n!tum L,:s:alue,_aiid the__desira_i£|i* 
knowled ^ to be use d as a to ol in solvin g 
probTe m^ p r nbt^jrji'ng othe r knowled ge. 
In the former are mingled the satisfaction 
of t he native curio si ty which craves t o 
k now fh^ ^^^^ nat u re and causes of t he 
phen omena around u s, the soluti on _ of 
the question in gs w hic h often trouble the 
minil^ the relief from apD rehensions which 
ig norance feels in the_presence of nature^ 
m vsteries^ th e sense of pow er and liKe rty 
wh ich knowledge of ten bring s, the_feeling 
of elevation whic h eac h new incr ement ^ f 
k nowledge givee; ; ^ and jhe ^^re]oicing in t he 
truth^^ beca use of its ow n beauty_aiid-sub- 
l imity, or jts moral charm a nd sweetness^ its 
appeals to our^tast e for wit and humor, an d 
fo r the wonderfu l. All these enter separately 
or together into the intellectual appetite to 
which the various forms of knowledge ap- 
peal, and which give to reading and study 



84 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

their greatest attraction. Each affords an 
avenue through which the mind can be 
reached and roused by the skilful teacher. 

17. It is evident that this manifold mental 
appetite must vary in character and intensity 
with the tastes and attainments of the pupils. 
Some love nature and her sciences of obser- 
vation and experiment; others love mathe- 
matics and delight in its problems; still 
others prefer the languages and literature, 
and others history and the sciences which 
deal with the powers, deeds, and destinies of 
man. Each special preference grows by be- 
ing fostered, and becomes absorbing as its 
acquisitions become great. The great mas- 
teries and achievements in arts, literature, 
and science have come from these innate 
tastes, and in all these ^Hhe child is father 
of the man.'' 

In each pupil lies the germ of such tastes 
— the springs of such powers — awaiting the 
art of the teacher to water the germs and set 
the springs in motion. 

18. The respect fo r Im owledge beii au&e ^f 
its valueas a_tool includes the desire fo r 
ed ucation as a me ans of livf^ b'hnor | of ns r 
so urce o f bette"^ «oci al standing; f bp fpJ t 
or anticip ated need of some specia l skill or 
abil ity as an arti st, lawj,erjL^writ£Lr,.„o.r„§(^ 
other brai n worker; as well as study for the 



The Law of the Teaching Process 85 

pur]QOse_Qf-JEdiining__rewurds or avoid ing 
p unishment s. This indirect desire for learn- 
ing varies with the character and aims of 
the pupils, but does not increase with 
attainment unless it ripens, as it may, into 
the true love of knowledge above described. 
Its strength depends upon the nature and 
magnitude of the need which impels the 
study. The activities aroused for such 
study go to a self-imposed task and are 
not very likely to continue their work after 
the task is done. T he rewards and punis h- 
m ents used in scho o1 to promotf^ thp> gfn dying 
of lessons have jusi this _force and no more. 
T hey inspire n o g enerous activity wlii^h 
wo rks for tl ja. Igve of the work a3ad_wliich 
rlnpgjiint ppnsA wIipti the assigned lessxmJias 
b een covered^ Witness the spirit that per- 
vades every school so taught and so managed. 
On the other hand, if the true uses of knowl- 
edge are constantly pointed out by the 
teacher and recognized by the child, the time 
may well come when respect for knowledge 
because it is useful becomes a real love of 
knowledge for its own sake. 

Knowledge and the Feelings 

19. Our discussion thus far has taken for 
granted the intimate and indissoluble con- 
nection between the intellect and the feelings, 



S6 The Sevoi Laivs of Teaching 

the inseparable union of thought and feel- 
ing. To think without feelmg would be 
thinking with a total indifterenee to the 
object of thought, which would be absurd; 
and to feel without thinking would be almost 
impossible. As most of the objects o f 
thougj^it are obi ects also of desi re r>r ^^l^ftljli^j 
and therefore objec ts of choice, it follow s 
th at all impo rtant a ction of the intellect has 
a moral side^ This, again, Is an assumption 
that we have made throughout our discus- 
sion. The love of knowledge for itself or fo r 
i ts uses is~in ~ T^trty"~moral^ as __i^implies 
mo ral affections a n d purposes o f good or 
eviL All motives of stu dy have a moral cha r- 
a cter or couriecti on, in their early steps ; 
h ence no educat ion ^ or teacJ img can be abs'o- 
lutel y divorced, f rom morals. The affections 
come to school with the intellect. 

20. T his moral consci ous ness finds i ts 
f uller sphere in the _ recognized domain of 
dut^l^^the hio'her realm of the affections an d 
the other moral qualitie s. From these come 
the highest and strongest incentives to study 
and also the clearest understanding. The 
te acher should c onsj^antly_address.J ]ip m ^^^^l 
na ture and sfm iul ate mora l s entime nts , if he 
w ishes to achie ve the grea test measure _o f 
su cces s. 

21. This moral teaching was the chief 



The Law of the Teaching Process 87 

merit of the work of Pestalozzi, and it is 
the leading characteristic of the work of all 
great teachers. Love of country, love of 
on£^s__fellows, aspirations for a ..fiobleZaiid 
usefnHifeJoye^or truth, — these are all mo- 
tives to which appeal should b e made. If 
these motives ar e lackm g in pupils, th p 
te acher must build them up._ 

The Self-Active Mind 

22. It follows from all this that only when 
the mental powers Avork freely and in their 
own way can the product be sure or per- 
manent. No one can know exactly what any 
mind contains, or how it performs, save as 
that mind imperfectly reveals it by words or 
acts, or as we conceive it by reflecting upon 
our own conscious experience. Just as the 
digestive organs must do their own work, 
masticating and digesting whatever food they 
receive, selecting, secreting, assimilating, 
and so building bone, muscle, nerve, and all 
the various tissues and organs of the body, 
so, too, in the last resort, the mind must per- 
form its function, without external aid, 
building, as it can, concepts, faith, purposes, 
and all forms of intelligence and character. 
As Milton expressed it : — 

'' The mind is its o-v^ti place, and in itself 
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." 



88 The Seven Laws of Teaeh'nuj 

23. If the fact of the mind's autocracy is 
thus emphasized, it is not for the purpose of 
belittling the "vvork of the teacher, but only 
to show more clearly the law which gives to 
that work all its force and dignity. Itjstlie_ 
t eacher's mission to stnuil •">^ tlip s pTritnn l 
g^^t^WPT'^ '^'^' ^^^-^ pupils' m inds ^ serv i u jr n<;. a 
herald of S(-ionr-p. .-l guide th rough Iiat urc^to 
s ummon the min ds to their work^ to p lace 
b efore them the, fa cts to be observed an d 
st udied., and to .guide them int o the right 
TD aths to be folL lwi^i. I t is his b y syrnpntJiVj 
bv_exam}3le^ and bv_ everv pieans of inHnpii fift 
— bv ob jects for the s enses 3 v facts_forJhe 
intelli gence — t o ex cite the mind of t he pupjl s, 
to s tinnilate their thought s. 

24. The cautionary clause of our law 
which forbids giving too much help to pupils 
will be needless to the teacher who clearly 
sees his proper work. Like a skilful en- 
gineer who knows the power of his engine, 
he chooses to stand and watch the play of the 
splendid machine and marvel at the ease and 
vigor of its movements. It is only the un- 
skilled teacher who prefers io hear his own 
voice in endless talk rather than to watch and 
direct the course of the thoughts of his 
pupils. 

25. There is no disagreement between 
this law and the first and third, which so 



The Law of the Teaching Process 89 

strongly insist upon the teacher's knowledge 
of the subject. Without full and accurate 
knowledge of the subject that the pupil is to 
learn through his self-active efforts, the 
teacher certainly cannot guide, direct, and 
test the process of learning. One may as 
well say that a general need know nothing 
of a battle-field because he is not to do the 
actual fighting, as that a teacher may get on 
with inadequate knowledge because the 
pupils must do the studying. As we have 
said, there are exceptions to the rule that the 
pupil should be told nothing that he can dis- 
cover for himself. There are some occasions 
when the teacher may, for a few moments, 
become a lecturer and, from his own 
more extensive experience, give his pupils 
broader, richer, and clearer views of the field 
of their work. But in such cases he must 
take care not to substitute mere telling for 
true teaching, and thus encourage passive 
listening where he needs to call for earnest 
work. 

26. The most important stimuli used by 
nature to stir the minds of men have already 
been noted. They might all be described as 
the silent but ceaseless questions which the 
world and the universe are always address- 
ing to man. The eternal questions of child- 
hood are really the echoes of these greater 



90 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

questions. The object or the event that ex- 
cites no question will provoke no thought. 
Questioning is not, therefore, merely one of 
the devices of teaching, it is really the whole 
of teaching. It is the excitation of the self- 
activities to their work of discovering truth. 
Nature always teaches thus. But it does not 
follow that every question should be in the 
interrogative form. The strongest and clear- 
est affirmation may have all the effect of the 
interrogation, if the mind so receives it. An 
expla nation mav be so give n a s to raise new 

27. T hf^ pyplmia t ion that settles ever y- 
thi ng and ends all q uestipns^usuallxjenda. all 
thi nking^ alsoi. After a truth is clearly under- 
s tood. or a fact or principl e estaSlTsEed^lKere 
sti ll remain its consequence s^ applications , 
and_US£3. Each fact and truth thoroughly 
studied leads to other facts which renew the 
questioning and demand fresh investigation. 
The alert and scientific mind is one that never 
ceases to ask questions and seek answers. 
The scientific spirit is the spirit of tireless 
inquiry and research. The present tim^e, so 
far excelling the past in the development of 
its arts and sciences, is the time of great 
questions. 

28. As with the world, so with the_childJ 
His education begins as^ so on as he b egins 



The Law of the Teaching Process 91 

to ask questions . It is only when the ques- 
tioning ~spirmas been fully awakened, and 
the habit of raising questions has been 
largely developed, that the teaching process 
may embody the lecture plan. The truth 
asks its own questions as soon as the mind 
is sufficiently awake. The falling apple had 
the question of gravitation in it for the mind 
of Newton; and the boiling teakettle pro- 
pounded to Watt the problem of a steam- 
engine. 

Rules for Teachers 

Like our other laws, this one also suggests 
some practical rules for teaching. 

(1) Adapt lessons and assignments to the 
ages and attainments of the pupils. Very 
y oung ch ildx^lL wi ll be int erested more^in 
whatever appeals to_iJi£_afijQ^Si_an(l_espe- 
ci ally in activities l th e more mature will, be 
attracted to.rpRsnning a]id,tjQLr£flBctiYe prob- 
l ems. 

(2) S elect less ons whidl_relat£-io-4he-«n- 
vir ojiment and needj_j)J_the^ pupils. 

(3) Consider carefully the subject and the 
lesson to be taught, and find its point of con- 
tact with the lives of your pupils. 

(4) Excite the pupil 's interest in the lesson 
when it is assigned, by some question or by 
some statement which will awaken inquiry. 



92 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

H int that so mething worth knowing is to be 
f ound out if th e lesson is thoroughly studied, 
andjhen be„sare later to ask for the truth 
to be discovered. 

(5J Place yourself frequently in the posi- 
tion of a_;E>upil_among your pupils, and join 
in the search for some fact or principle. 

(6) Repress your impatience which cannot 
wait for the pupil to explain himself, and 
iwhich tends to take his words out of his 
mouth. He will resent it, and will feel that 
vhe could have answered had you given him 

time. 

(7) In all class exercises aim to excite con- 
stantly fresh interest and activity. Start 
questions for the pupils to investigate out of 
cla s s . The le sson that^ jip e s^ no t culmin|ii^ 
fr esh questioj is ^ends jgrong. 

(8) Observe each pupil to see that his mind 
is not wandering so as to forbid its activities 
being bent to the lesson in hand. 

(9) Count it your chief duty to awaken the 
minds of your pupils, and do not rest until 
each child shows his mental activity by ask- 
ing questions. 

(10) Repress the desire to tell all you know 
or think upon the lesson or subject; if you 
tell something by way of illustration or 
explanation, let it start a fresh question. 

(11) Give the pupil time to think, after you 



The Law of the Teaching Process 93 

are sure that his mind is actively at work, 
and en courage him to ask questions whe n 
p uzzled . 

( 12 ) Do not answer t oo promptly the ques - 
tions as ked, bu t restate them, to^giye them 
gr eater force and breadtlv^itd often answer 
wit h new question s to sec ure deeper thought . 

(13) Teach pupilsjo ask What? Why? and 
Howf — the__nat]ire, c ause ^ an d met hod 3f 
every fiict nr prin ciple tau ght them; also 
Where? JV henf By whom? ^i^d What_ofJtf 
— t he place, t ime^ actors^ and co nsequence s 
o f events .^ ' 

(14) Eecitations should not exhaust a sub- 
ject, but leave additional work to stimulate 
the thought and the efforts of the pupils. 

Violations and Mistakes 

Many a teacher neglecting these rules kills 
all interest in his class, and wonders how he 
did it. 

(1) The chief and almost constant viola- 
tion of this law of teaching is the attempt to 
force lessons by simply telling. ^^I have told 
you ten times, and yet you don't know!'' ex- 
claims a teacher of this sort, who is unable 
to remember that knowing comes by thinking, 
not by being told. 

(2) It is another mistake to complain of 
memory for not keeping what it never held. 



94 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

If facts or principles are to be remembered, 
the attention must be concentrated upon 
them at the time, and there must be a 
conscious effort to remember. 

(3) A third violation of the law comes 
from the haste with which teachers require 
prompt and rapid recitations in the very 
words of the book ; and, if a question is asked 
in class, to refuse the pupils time to think. 
If the pupil hesitates and stops for lack of 
thought, or in apparent lack of memory, the 
fault lies in yesterday's teaching which 
shows its fruit today; but if it comes from 
the slowness of the pupil's thinking, or from 
the real difficulty of the subject, then time 
should be given for additional thought ; and, 
if the recitation period will not permit it, let 
the answer hold over until the next time. 

It is to this hurried and unthinking lesson- 
saying that we owe the superficial and 
impractical character of so much of our 
teaching. I nstead of learn i n g thoroughly 
th e material of ourJ bssoaaL. we .End eavor t o 
learn them on ly so as jt a_r ecite them 
p romptly ^ If faults of this characte£ _ja££ 
Dr evalent in our dav sc hools^ how much mor e 
se rious are thev in thp Rrnidfly sp]^ Pols'? _Tf 
the lessons of the Sunday schools are to 
carry over into the lives of the pupils by 
purifying and exalting their thoughts and 



The Law of the Teaching Process 95 

making them wise in the religious beliefs 
taught them, the instruction must not be mere 
telling, but must be accompanied by the 
better methods used in the regular schools. 

How different are the results when this 
great law of teaching is properly followed! 
The stimulated self-activities operate in the 
correct manner, and the classroom is trans- 
formed under their power into a busy labora- 
tory. The pupils bpcom p thinkers^rrrdiscoy- 
er ers. The y master great, truths, ,and apply 
th em to thp grp at quest ions of life. They 
inv ade new fie lds of knowledge.^ The teacher 
me rely leads the mar ch. Their reconnais- 
sance becomes a conquest. Skill and power 
grow with their exercise. Through this 
process, the students find out what their 
minds are for, and become students of life. 



Chapter VII 
THE LAW OF THE LEARNING PROCESS 

1. We must now pass from the side of 
the teacher to that of the learner. It has 
been seen that the teacher's work consists 
essentially in arousing and guiding the self- 
activities of the pupils. T he pupil.^V work , 
which we are now to consider, is the use of 
t hose self -n^ft^'^^^i es in studyin g. The laws 
of leaching and learning may seem at first 
to be only different aspects of the same law, 
but they are really quite distinct — the one 
applying to the work of the instructor, the 
other to that of the one receiving the in- 
struction. T he law of ihe teachinp process 
in volves the means by which t he self-activ i- 
ties are to be awakened; t he law of th e 
le arning prd C&^s^ dete rmihes the manner i n 
w hich these activities^ hai rbe employe d. 

H". If we observe a cmid as he studies, 
and note carefully what he does, we shall 
easily see that it is not merely an effort of 
the attention nor a vague and purposeless 
exertion of his powers, that is required of 
him. There is a clear and distinct act or 
process which we wish him to accomplish. It 
is to form in his own mind, by the use of his 



The Laiv of the Learning Process 97 

own powers, a true concept of the facts or 
principles in the lesson. This is the purpose 
to which all the efforts of teacher and pupil 
must be directed. The law of the learning 
process may therefore be stated thus : 

The pupil must reproduce in his own mind 
the^ruth to be teamed, ~ 



^^"^^ Witn tne laws previously discussed the 
teacher has been chiefly concerned; the law 
now before us concerns the pupil also. It 
brings into view the principles which must 
guide the student in his studying, and which 
it is the business of the instructor to empha- 
size and enforce. While telling the teacher 
how to teach, it also tells the pupil how to 
study. 

The Philosophy of the Law 

4. We have said that merely pouring out 
before pupils the content of the teacher ^s 
knowledge is not teaching. It should now be 
pointed out that true learning is not memo - 
rization and r epeti tion of th e w ords and ideas 
o f the teacher. ^ T he wor^"^ of Huff^tigQ^ ^^n 
trary to common understanding, i s much 
moreJlie__warlL--Qf thejugil th an of J ^ 
te acher l^ This idea, which has been pre- 
sentecT before in this discussion, is here 
reaffirmed as fundamental. 

5. We must distinguish between the 




98 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

original disc overy of a truth and learning j t 
iroJA others. .D iscovery is made by pro^cg ^s 
oF^nftnal in vestigat ion and research wliid i 
are usually slow, fentatlTeTJand laborious. 
L earning comes ^by p rocesses of mtefprela - 
tion, which niay"1)e easy a nd rap id. Stijl 
t£eFe is mucn m common^ th e learner redi s- 
c overs in part th e material that he If^aj ris. 
No real learning is wholly a repetition of the 
thoughts of others. The discoverer borrows 
largely of facts known to others, and the 
student must add to what he studies from his 
own experience. His aim should be to be- 
come an independent searcher in the fields of 
knowledge, not merely a passive learner at 
the hands of others. Both the original in- 
vestigator and the student must be seekers 
for new facts and principles, and both must 
aim to gain clear and distinct conceptions of 
them. It is indispensable that the student 
should become an investigator. 

6. There are several ph ««^« ^f thf^ Ipnryi, 
i ng^ process w hich should be carefully noted 
here in order that the full meaning of the 
aw shall be seen and understood. 

First . A pupil is sometimes said to have 
learneH the lesson when he has committed it 
to memory, and can repeat or recite it word 
for word. This is all that is attempted by 
many pupils, or required by such teachers as 



The Law of the Learning Process 99 

consider their work done if they can secure 
verbatim reproductions. Education would 
be cheap and easy if this were real learning 
and could be made to stay. 

Sacnmi' It is an evident advance over the 
memorizing of words w hen the pupil has also 
an understanding of the thought. It is so 
much better that many teachers are tempted 
to care only for the thought, and so to inform 
their pupils. There is a danger here, for in. 
man^jcases, as in the teaching- of- th o l osgK M is 
in the Bible, it is impor tant to know and to 
remember the w ordsj^ 

Thtrd.__ It is still better when the pupil can 
tr angSte the thought accura tel y into his own 
or otEer words :y itho ut detriment to the 
m eanin gs The one who can do this has ad- 
vanced beyonTihe work of mere learning, 
and has pl aced himself in the attitude of ji 
discoverer. H e has learned to deal with his 
o wn tEoughts a s wpH na tnp ^'^^^-■g-Ti^p ^ 
others.^ The capable teacher will recognize 
this, and will pardon possible crudeness of 
expression, while he encourages the pupil to 
more accurate thinking as a means to more 
accurate language. 

F^MXili. The pupil sho^v^s^ , stilL gr.eater 
pro gress :g lien he Jieji^s to^.§e£k evidence of 
thes tatements w hich he^ studies. The**5ne 

whn r>aTi giVp a rAasr>Ti f n r the things he be- 



100 The Seven Laivs of Teaching 

lieves is a bett er student a^.welLa§^„sixii0^er 
believer than ji>i^ on^ who believes but dfles 
not know ^ hy. The real student seek£ 
proofs, and a large part of the work of a slu^ 
dent of nature is to prove the things which 
he discovers. The stu dent of the Bible ou^l;t 
t o seek to find ouTf r>r hnnself if these thing' s 
a re so . Even the youngest pupils will take 
a^stronger hold of the truth if they can see 
a reason for it. In searching for proof, the 
student encounters much knowledge on the 
way, like the mountain climber who finds the 
landscape always widening around him. The 
particular proble m with which he is en^a^eJ 
i s seen io J^ a part ot JEe^gfeat e mpire o f 
t ruth . 

Fif^ - Austin hi gher and more fruit^ j ^ l 
sta ge of learning is fo und in the study of th e 
uses and applications of knowledge. JNo les- 
ion is fully l^ariiiid hntil it is ti'aced to its 
connections with the great working machin- 
ery of nature and of life. Ever y fact has 
its^relation taJife, and every principlevits 
a pplications, an d u ntil the se are known»_lacts 
and principles,.are _idle . The practical rela- 
tions of fruth7and the forces which lie behind 
all facts, are never really understood until we 
apply our knowledge to some of the practical 
purposes of life and of thought. The boy 
who finds a use for what he has learned in 



The Law of the Learning Process 101 

his lesson becomes doubly interested and 
successful in his school work. What was 
idle knowledge becomes practical wisdom. 

7. T he learning p roce ss is not c om plete^ i 
unt il this last s tage JiasJbeen peached. The 
other steps aid in illumining the understand- 
ing of the pupils as they progress in their 
work, but our law of the learning process de- 
mands this final stage, and to this purpose 
the efforts of the teacher and the pupils must 
constantly be directed. . "V / j 

8. The earnest student will be enabled, ^TT^J^^dJc^^^ 



means of these steps, to watch his own prog 
ress with his work. He can ask these que 
tions : What does the lesson say ? What 
its meaning'? How can I express this mea 
ing in my own language? Do I believe wh 
the lesson tells me, and why! Wliat is tl 
good of it — ^liow may I apply and use the 



ress with his work. He can ask these ques- ^^^'^^fr^ 

ing in my own language ? Do I believe whatl\ CX Z^-^.— ^ 
the lesson tells me, and why! Wliat is ^^ ^ \ ^ 

knowledge which it gives! }%\tj u 

9. It is true that many lessons are not /(t^liwir^* 
learned with this comprehensive thorough- 
ness, but this does not change the fact that 

no lesson is really learned until so under- 
stood and so mastered. 

Limitations of the Law 

10. We should consider t wo limitations to 
this jaw of learning. The first has to dowiffi J 
the age of the pupils. It should be remem- 



102 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

bered that the mental activity of y oung ch il- 
dren lies close to the senses. Their knowl- 
e3 ge of a lesson will be large ly confineH^ fo 
th e facts whicJi appe al ToThe eye, or whic h 
can Te illustrated to the senses^ A little laTer 
the"desire of pupils for activity and for car- 
rying on some active enterprise may profit- 
ably be utilized in their training. As matur- 
ity is^approached^_^ung people thmFmiore 
a nd^"more a baft^--^^s ons, and iJi e lessgl ffe 
w hich will appeal mojt_to them will be th e 
ones which ask rea so ns an3 w hi ch' give con- 
clusions. ■ 
'Ij Anoth er" limitation is one concerned with 
the rlifFerent fields of human k no wledge^ In 
each branch of knowledge there are distinct 
evidences and applications, and therefore 
the operation of the law of the learning proc- 
ess will vary to meet conditions. The capa- 
ble teacher will discover these differences, 
and will find the proper conditions of suc- 
cessful study of each. 

11. Herman Kriisi, one of the best of 
teachers because one of the most sympa- 
thetic students of childhood, said: ^^ Every 
child that I have ever observed, during all my 
life, has passed through certain remarkable 
questioning periods which seem to originate 
from his inner being. After each had passed 
through the early time of lisping and stam- 



The Law of the Learning Process 103 

mering, into that of speaking, and had come 
to the questioning period, he repeated at 
every new phenomenon the question, *What 
is thatr If for answer he received the name 
of a thing, it completely satisfied him; he 
wished to know no more. After a number 
of months, a second state made its appear- 
ance, in which the child followed its first 
question with a second: 'What is there in 
it?' These questions had much interest for 
me, and I spent much reflection upon them. 
In the end it became clear to me that the 
child had struck out the right method for de- 
veloping its thinking faculties.'' Kriisi's 
questions belong chiefly to the first period of 
growth and education; in the later periods 
come other questions. 

Practical Rules for Teachers and Learners 

The rules which follow from this law are 
useful both for teacher and pupil. 

(1) Help the pupil to form a clear idea of 
the work to be done. 

(2) Warn him that the words of his les- 
son have been carefully chosen; that they 
may have peculiar meanings, which it m.ay 
be important to find out. 

(3) Show him that usually more things are 
implied than are said. 

(4) Ask him to express, in his own words. 



104 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

fhe meaning of the lesson as he understands 
it, and to persist until he has the whole 
thought. 

(5) Let the reason why be perpetually 
ashed till the pupil is brought to feel that he 
is expected to give a reason for his opinions. 
But let him also clearly understand that rea- 
sons must vary with the nature of the ma- 
terial he is studying. 

(6) Aim to make the pupil an independent 
investigator — a student of nature and a 
seeker after truth. Cultivate in him the 
habit of research. 

(7) Help him to test his conceptions to see 
that they reproduce the truth taught, as far 
as his powers permit. 

(8) Seek constantly to develop in pupils a 
profound regard for truth as something 
noble and enduring. yCU^ ^ 

(9) Teach the pupils to hate shams and 
sophistries and to shun them. 

Violations and Mistakes 

The violations of this law of the learning 
process are perhaps the most common and 
most fatal of any in our school work. Since 
the work of learning is the very heart of 
school work, a failure here is a failure in all. 
Knowledge may be placed before the pupils 
in endless profusion and in the most attrac- 



The Laiv of the Learning Process 105 

tive gniise ; teachers may pour out instruction 
without stint, and lessons may be learned 
and recited under all the pressure of the most 
effective discipline and of the most urgent 
appeals; but if this law is not followed, the 
attainments will fall short of their mark. 
Some of the more common mistakes are 
these : 

(1) The pupil is left in the twilight of an 
imperfect and fragmentary mastery by a 
failure to think it into clearness. The haste 
to go on often precludes time for thinking. 

(2) The langTiage of the text-book is so in- 
sisted upon that the pupil has no incentive 
to try his own power of expression. Thus 
he is taught to feel that the words are every- 
thing, the meaning nothing. Students often 
learn the demonstrations of geometry by 
heart, and do not suspect that there is any 
meaning in them. 

(3) The failure to insist upon original 
thinking by the pupils is one of the most com- 
mon faults of our schools. 

(4) Frequently no reason is asked for the 
statements in the lesson, and none is given. 
The pupil believes what the book says, be- 
cause the book says it. 

(5) The practical applications are persis- 
tently neglected. That the lesson has a use, 



106 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

is the last thought to enter the minds of many- 
pupils. 

Nowhere are these faults in teaching more 
frequent or more serious than in the Sun- 
day school. ** Always learning, but never 
able to come to a knowledge of the truth/' 
tells the sad story of many a Sunday-school 
class. If that class be taught as our law pre- 
scribes, the results might be very different. 



Chapter VIII 
THE LAW OF REVIEW AND APPLICATION 

1. Let us suppose the process of teaching 
to be completed. The teacher and the pupils 
have met and have done their work together. 
Language freighted with ideas and aided 
with illustrations has been spoken and un- 
derstood. Knowledge has been thought into 
the minds of the pupils, and it lies there in 
greater or less completeness, to feed thought, 
to guide and modify conduct, and to form 
character. What more is needed? The 
teacher's work seems ended. But difficult 
work yet remains, perhaps the most difficult. 
All that haR be en accomplished L lies hidden 
i n the minds of the p upils, andJiSriherejas 
a potency rather th an as a possessio n. What 
process sliall iix into active ha^ts the 
thought-potencies which have been evolved? 
What influence shall mold into permanent 
ideals the conceptions that have been gained I 
It is for this final and finishing work that our 
seventh and last law provides. This law of 
the confirmation and ripening of results, may 
be expressed as follows: 

The com pletion, t est and confi r mation ^ f 



108 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

t he, y)nrk of tp, ac hmq must h e made 3y r e- 
view and appli cation. _ 

% The statement of this law seeks to in- 
clude t he chief aims of the revie^^ : (1) to 
perfect kTiowledg'e^,(J^.;> to nor>firr>i Vnnwifirlo'p, 
a nd (3 ) f.n render this knowled^'e ready an d 
usefuL These three aims, though distinct in 
idea, are so connected in fact as to be secured 
by the same process. It would be difficult to 
overstate the value and importance of this 
law of review. No time in teaching is spent 
more profitably than that spent in reviewing. 
Other things being equal, the ablest and most 
successful teacher is the one who secures 
from his pupils the most frequent, thorough, 
and interesting reviews. 

Philosophy of the Law 

3. A review is more than a repetition. A 
machine may repeat a process, but only an 
intelligent agent can review it. The repeti- 
tion done by a machine is a second movement 
precisely like the first; a repetition by the 
mind is the re thjpT^ing ()f ^ thong-bt. It is 
necessarily a review. It is more : it involveg 
f resh conceptions a nd new associations, and, 
b rings an increasa of facilityand power . 

4. "Rp^^iPWQ a^VA n-P r]ifFovonf frvqdpg ^f onvr\- 

ple teness ^ll d^ thoroughness , from the mere 
repetitionof the words of lessons, or a rapid 



'^ 



The Law of Revieiv and Application 109 

glance thrown back to some fact or phrase, 
to the most careful resurvey of the whole 
field, — the occupancy in full force of the 
ground of which the first study was only a 
reconnaissance. The simplest reviews are 
mostly repetitions ; the final and complete re- 
views should be thorough restudies of the 
lessons. 

5. A partial r e view^m a v embrace a singl e 
leaa^Oir-^^:' it mavJnclude a s ingl e topic of th e 
sub ject^ — the development of a single fact or 
principle, the recall of some event, o r o£ . 
s ome difficult p oint or questian."<;/Th e_com- 
pjete review m ay be a cursor y r^ewmg o f 
t he^ whol e £eld in a few general questionsj^or 
i t may be a full andjfin^ reconsideration^^ 
fhp wbn]p''^'rr>nr>rl "TJach kind of review has 
its place and use. We shall see in our dis- 
cussion that no teaching can be complete 
without the review, made either under the 
teacher's direction, or voluntarily by the 
pupil himself. 

6. A new lesson o r a f resh topic^ e ver re - 
vp^ls a11 n? its elf ^'t firsC It di^stracts th e 

ai fnnfinr> rnnr^ Uq y^ovplfiPg m ay dazzle th e 

mind. When we enter a strange house we 
do not know where to look for its several 
rooms, and the attention is drawn to a few 
of the more singular and conspicuous pieces 
of furniture or articles of decoration. We 



110 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

must return again and again, and resurvey 
the scene with eyes grown familiar to the 
place, before the whole plan of the building 
and the uses of all the rooms and their furni- 
ture will stand clearly revealed. So o ne mi u^t 
r eturn again an d a gain to a lesson if he would 
s ee all there is^ in it^ a ndj ?ome to a true-,a ad 
v ivid understanding o f its meaning . We 
have all noticed how much we find that is new 
and interesting in reading again some old 
and familiar volume. 

7. Even in the best studied book, we are 
often surprised to find fresh truths and new 
meanings in passages which we had read per- 
haps again and again. It is the ripest stu- 
dent of Shakespeare who finds the most fresh- 
ness in the works of the great dramatist. 
The familiar eye discovers in any great mas- 
terpiece of art or literature touches of power 
and beauty which the casual observer can- 
not see. So a.,tru£Lr£3d£LW-jaL!Kays adds some- 
thin^_to Jhfi^ Jl^^ "ti^ student wlxa 
makes itjj 

8. Especially is this true of the Bible, of 
which the latest study is the richest and most 
interesting. Nothing more surprises or de- 
lights us in the great preachers than the new 
meanings they discover in old and familiar 
texts — meanings which clearly are there, but 
which we had not found in our own reading. 



The Law of Revieiv and Application 111 

Sometimes these meanings are hidden in a 
word, and need perhaps only the right em- 
phasis to reveal them; sometimes they lie 
close by the path and appear by some side- 
light thrown skilfully upon them by the text. 
Repetition with v arying em phasis often ma y 
b ring to 1if>'ht ^^f^^f^ hidden meaning s. 

9. On one occasion at least, the Great 
Teacher resorted to this power of repetition, 
when three times in succession he asked 
Peter the question, ^^Lovest thou me?'' The 
heart of the disciple burned under this pow- 
erful iteration, and with memory and con- 
science quickened he appealed to the Master 
to witness to the truth of his questioned love. 

10. But the_ _repetition s^ of a review are 
not jnade the same hour^ They_ai&~spi^^d 
oyer ..daJSI^lSI^fi^ks,' andJbence^^ new elg - 
ment is brought into pl ay. T he lapse j )f 
time changes the point of__yiew.^At^very_xe- 
vi ew we survey the , lesso n from a ne w stand- 
Roint.^ I ts facts rise in a n ew order,fflil,§re 
RPPT1 1T1 T1PW rplatioTis" IVntfis that were over- 
shadowed in the first study now come forth 
into the light. When one climbs a m^ountain, 
from each successive outlook the eye visits 
again the same landscape, but the position 
of the observer is always changed. The fea- 
tures of the landscape are seen in different 
perspective, and each successive view is 



112 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

larger, more comprehensive, and more com- 
plete than its predecessor. 

11. The human mind does not achieve its 
victories by a single effort. There is a sort 
of mental incubation as a result of which 
some splendid discovery oftentimes springs 
forth. The physiologists call it unconscious 
cerebration, by which they mean that the 
brain itself goes on working unknown to us. 
It is an easier explanation that the ever 
growing mind reaches constantly new posi- 
tions, and obtains new light by which a new 
truth becomes visible. Some fresh experi- 
ence or newly acquired idea serves as a key to 
the old lesson, and what was dark in the first 
study is made clear and bright in the review. 

12. The old saying, *' Beware of the man 
of one book,'' has this in it, that his repeated 
readings of his one book give him a mastery 
of the subject which makes him a dangerous 
antagonist in his chosen field. He shows the 
power conferred by frequent reviews. 

13. Frequent repetiti on s are valuable to 

pnrrPptrnPTnn|-i7?^f.inTi and vf^^rlj Vf^o.f^M. Mptti- 

or y depe nd'^ upon thir-ass ociation of ideas , — 
the idea in -niind recalli ng: the ideas with 
w hich it has been j ink ed by some past ass o- 
ciatian. Fl gch review esfflhl is hes new asso- 
ci ations, ^ Q:hile at the same time_ it familiar - 
izes and streno-thens the old. The lesson that 



The Law of Review and Application 113 

is studied but once is likely learned only to 
be forgotten. That which is thoroughly and 
repeatedly reviewed is woven into the very 
fabric of our thoughts, and becomes a part of 
our equipment of knowledge. Not what a 
pupil has once learned and recited, but what 
he pe rmanently remembers an d uses is the 
f,orrp ^,t Tnp.^^ irf> of hi^ aphievemer^t. 

14. Not merely to know, but t o have know l- 
prlp ;ft for nsp ^ — to possess it fully, like money 
for daily expenditures, or tools and materials 
for daily work, — such is t he aim of true 
stiidjr. This readiness of knowledge cannot 
be gained by a single study. Frequent and 
thorough reviews can alone give this firm 
hold and free handling of the truth. There 
is a skill in scholarship as well as in handi- 
craft, and this skill in both cases depends 
upon habits ; and habit is the child of repe- 
tition. 

15. The plastic power of truth in shaping 
conduct and molding character belongs only 
to the truths which have become familiar by 
repetitions. Not the scamper of a passing 
child but the repeated tread of coming and 
going feet beats for us the paths of our daily 
life. If we would have any great truth sus- 
tain and control us, we must return to it so 
often that it will at last rise up in mind as a 
dictate of conscience, and pour its steady 



114 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

light upon every act and purpose with which 
it is concerned. 

16. The well-known influence of maxims 
and proverbs comes from the readiness with 
which they are remembered and recalled, and 
the power which they gather by repetition. 
The Scriptural texts which most influence us 
are those that have become familiar by use, 
and which arise in mind as occasions demand. 

17. From all this it will be seen that the 
review is not simply an added excellence in 
teaching which may be dispensed with if time 
is lacking; it is one of the essential con- 
ditions of al] true teaching. Not to review is 
to leave the work half done. The law of 
review rests upon the laws of mind. The re- 
view may not always be made formally and 
with clear design, but no successful teach- 
ing was ever done in which the review in 
some form, either by direction of the teacher 
or by the private impulse of the learner, did 
not take place — the revisiting and repetition 
of the lesson that had been learned. The 
^^line upon line and precept upon precept^' 
rule of the Bible is a recognition of this truth. 

18. The processe s of review Tnust n9x>.^^- 
s arily vary y\^it h the sjibjgct of fgfudy, and-also 
w ith the age and^ ^van cement of the -n npiig 
W ith very you ng pu j^ils th e revi ew can b e 
little more than simple repetition ; with older 



The Law of Review and Application 115 

pupils, th e revie\^?^-JwdlL be aJJiQUghtfuLre- 
s tudy of-l lie groumLla ga.iTi dee ^r und er- 
s tandin g. 

A principle in mathematics may be re- 
viewed with fresh applications and problems. 
A scientific principle may be fixed by the 
study or analysis of a fresh specimen, or by 
additional facts in support of the same prin- 
ciple. A chapter in history may be restudied 
with fresh questions calling for a fresh view, 
or by comparing it with the new statements 
of another author. A Scriptural truth will 
be reviewed by a new application to the heart 
and conscience or to the judgment of the 
duties and events of the life. 

19. In the Bible more than in any othe r 

TinnWrA rpvipyri:} Tiftpdfnl and vnln?^bl^ Not 

only^3oes the Bible most require and most 
repay repeated study, but most of all ought 
Bible knowlcdgg to be familiar to us. Its 
words and precepts should rest clear and 
precise in the thought as the dictates of duty. ^ ^ 

20. A'"y pyer mse jmay.5; orvQ as _a revieis O^''^'"*^^*-'' ^ 
w hich recalls t he materi al to be reviewed/^ *#*.♦-* ^ 
O ne of th e besl^ and^osTpr act ical form s of ♦ *'^y^ 
r eview isT!ie" "cair mg up ofany f act or trut h 

le arned and ap T)lying ^ it to some use^ Noth- 
ing so fixes it in the memory or gives such 
a grasp of it to the understanding. Thus 
the multiplication table may be learned by 



116 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

orderly repetitions of its successive factors 
and products, but its frequent review and 
use in daily computations alone give us that 
perfect mastery of it which makes it come 
without call. So in that largest, most won- 
derful, and most perfect acquisition of the 
human mind, — the thousands of wholly arti- 
ficial word-signs and idioms of the mother 
tongue, — nothing but the ceaseless repetitions 
and reviews of daily use could so imbed them 
in the memory and so work them into the 
habitudes of the mind that they come with the 
ideas that they symbolize and keep pace with 
the swift movements of thought itself, as if 
a natural part of the thinking process. 

21. The ready skill of artisans and pro- 
fessional men in recalling instantaneously 
the principles and processes of their arts or 
professions is the product of the countless 
repetitions of daily practic^ This kind of 
review is available in all cases where the 
pupil can be called upon to apply the material 
learned to the solution of common problems, 
the conduct of any process, or the perform- 
ance of any series of acts. The_art_of the 
teach£3v4»-i Ms w x)r k, lies in i h e stating oF^f * 
questiouF i whi^h shal l properly, mgk^ nsp nf 
ihs^. Tnfl|eria1 |.o be reyiewef^^. 

22. The use of handwork in review ought 
by no means to be neglected. The hand is it- 



The Law of Review and Application 117 

self a capable teacher, and few reviews are 
more effective than those which are aided by 
the hand. Witness the power and value of 
laboratory work, now so common in all scien- 
tific study. 

The request for th e pu pils to bring lists of 
p ersons, object s, places, e tc., mentioned in the 
l essons^ for fa V>n1ar st atements ^f facts o r 
ev ents, for maps, plans, or drawings of 
pl aces or thi n gs , civ fnr fi hfvrtj^^'^t^T^ ataip- 
m rnto or ancwors, willH»e-ef-vf^1u abl o r ssjs- 
t ance in reviewing^ 

Practical Rules for Teachers 

Among the many practical rules for re- 
view, the following are some of the most use- 
ful: 

(1) Consider reviews as always in order. 

(2) Have set times for review. At the be- 
ginning of each period review briefly the 
preceding lesson. 

(3) At the close of each lesson, glance back- 
ward at the ground which has been covered. 
Almost every good lesson closes with a sum- 
mary. It is well to have the pupils know that 
any one of them may be called upon to sum- 
marize the lesson at the close of the class- 
period. 

(4) After five or six lessons, or at the close 
of a topic, take a review from the beginning. 



118 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

The best teachers give about one third of 
each period to purposes of review. Thus 
they make haste slowly but progress surely. 

(5) Whenever a reference to former les- 
sons can profitably be made, the opportunity 
thus afforded to bring old knowledge into 
fresh light should be seized. 

(6) All new lessons should be made to 
bring into review and application the ma- 
terial of former lessons. 

(7) Make the first review as soon as prac- 
ticable after the lesson is first learned. 

(8) In order to make reviews easily and 
rapidly, the teacher should hold in mind the 
material that has been learned, in large units 
or blocks, ready for instant use. He is thus 
able to begin at any time an impromptu re- 
view in any part of the field. The pupils, 
seeing that the teacher thinks it worth while 
to remember and recall what has been studied, 
will desire to do the same, and will be ambi- 
tious to be ready to meet his questions. 

(9) New questions on old lessons, new il- 
lustrations for old texts, new proof for old 
statements, new applications of old truths, 
will often send the pupil back with fresh in- 
terest to his old material, thus affording a 
profitable review. 

(10) The final review, which should never 
be omitted, should be searching, comprehen- 



The Law of Review and Application 119 

sive, and masterful, grouping the different 
topics of the subject as on a map, and aiding 
the pupil to a familiar mastery of the ma- 
terial which he has learned. 

(11) Find as many applications as possi- 
ble. Every thoughtful application involves 
a useful and effective review. 

(12) Do not forget the value of hand-work 
in review. 

(13) Encourage the pupils to ask ques- 
tions on the material of previous lessons. 
Let this be done frequently; the pupils will 
soon learn to come to their classes with ques- 
tions ready to ask, and with ready answers 
for other questions. 

Violations and Mistakes 

The common and almost constant viola- 
tions of this law of teaching are well known 
to every one. But the disastrous violations 
are known only to those who have considered 
thoughtfully the inadequate and stinted out- 
comes of much of our laborious and costly 
teaching. The lack of proper review is not 
by any means the sole cause of failure ; how- 
ever, a wider and more thorough use of the 
principle of review would go far to remedy 
the evils from other causes. We pour water 
into broken cisterns ; good reviews might not 



120 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

at once increase the quantity of water which 
goes in, but they would stop the leaks. 

The first violation of the law is the total 
neglect of review. This is the folly of the 
utterly poor teacher. 

^/^fiOTidi ^^niPR thf^ whoUy^ inadoquat e-re- 
v iew. This is the ..Ja)«lt~^f thfiJuurifiiLjjQji 
impatient teacher, w ho is often more con- 
cfernea with getti ng tE TOUM ' h Ih^ Woik of 't ;ll, e 
te rm or « ggeil5E!i.hpiTi m^^^^^:) ^''' "^•"■^' 1^^ 
pupils^ Q ^a» 

I'Jie tfiird mistake is that of delaying all 
review work until the end of the semester or 
term, when, the material of the course being 
largely forgotten, the review amounts to lit- 
tle more than a poor releaming, with little 
interest and less value. 

The fourth error is that of making the re- 
view merely a process of lifeless and color- 
less repetition of questions and answers and 
often the very questions and answers which 
were originally used. This is a review in 
name only. 

The law of review in its full force and phil- 
osophy requires that there shall be fresh 
vision — a clear rethinking and reusing of 
the material which has been learned, which 
shall be related to the first study as the fin- 
ishing touches of the artist to his first 
sketches. 



The Law of Review and Application 121 

Conclusion 

We have now finished our discussion of 
the seven laws of teaching. If we have suc- 
ceeded in our purpose, our readers have 
seen: first, the true teacher, equipped with 
the knowledge he wishes to communicate; 
second, the pupil, with attention fixed and in- 
terest aroused, eager to pursue his studies; 
third, the true medium of communication be- 
tween the two — a language clear, simple, and 
easily understood by both; fourth, the true 
lesson, the knowledge or experience to be 
communicated. These four, the actors and 
the machinery of the drama, have been 
shown in action, giving, fifth, the true teach- 
ing process, the teacher arousing and direct- 
ing the self -activities of the pupils ; sixth, the 
true learning process, the pupils reproduc- 
ing in their own thought, step by step, — first 
in mere outline and finally in full and finished 
conception — the lesson to be learned; and 
seventh, the true review, testing, correcting, 
completing, connecting, confirming, and ap- 
plying the subject studied. In all this there 
has been seen only the working of the great 
natural laws of mind and truth effecting and 
governing that complex process by which a 
human intelligence gains possession of 
knowledge. The study of these laws may not 



122 The Seven Laws of Teaching 

make of every reader a perfect teacher; but 
the laws themselves, when fully observed in 
use, will produce their effects with the same 
certainty that chemical laws generate the 
compounds of chemical elements, or that the 
laws of life produce the growth of the body. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Action, Mental, proportioned to stimulus 33 

Appeals, Basis of 10 

Gushing 10 

Attention, Description of 25 

Typesof 26,27,28 

Most desirable type of 28 

Fresh, how aroused 30, 31 

Because of duty 36 

Power of, increases with mental development 36 

Hindrances to 36 

Aroused by pleasing variety 37 

Secured by pertinent illustrations 38 

Secured by favorite stories, songs, etc 38 

Secured by questions 38 

How not secured 39, 40 

Sources of interest are approaches to 33 

Child, Small vocabulary of 43, 44 

Must be understood 46 

Questionings of 89 

Beginning of education of 90,91 

What is required from, in study 96 

Mental activity of 102 

Questioning period of 102 

How to develop thinking faculties of 103 

Class, helped by teacher 18 

Comenius, Saying of 81 

Conclusion 121 

Education, Great Aims of 79 

Enthusiasm, kindled by skill 9 

Kindled by knowledge 17 

Secret of 17 

Exhortations, Earnest 10 

Experience; of what it may consist 2 

How taught 2 

Characterized by, at different stages 15 

Explanations, which end thinking 90 

Figures of speech, from what law they spring 62 

Ideas incarnated in words 46 

Must precede words 47 



124 Index 



PAGE 

Illustration, Power of, comes through knowledge 16 

Illustrations from nature 50 

From what borrowed 64 

Infant, the: Interest in new objects 82 

Interest, Sources of 33 

How increased 34, 35 

Varies with age 35 

Limited by knowledge 82 

Two chief springs of 83 

Knowledge and the feelings 85 

Necessity of 14 

Degrees of 15 

The teacher's material 15 

Imperfect, makes imperfect teaching 15 

Power of illustration comes from 16 

Full, necessary to greatest interest . 17 

Pupils' confidence inspired by 18 

How communicated 32 

Not a mass of simple facts 60 

An act of comparing and judging 61 

Never perfect 65 

A record of solved problems 68 

Practical application of, to be made 70 

Necessary to thought 82 

Love of, for its own sake 83 

Desire for, for practical use 83 

Appetite for, grows by being fostered 84 

Respect for, for its value 84 

Ready for use 113 

Kriisi, Herman, saying of 102 

Language, The Law of the 41 

The Law of the, stated 5, 42 

The Law of the, stated as a rule 6 

Philosophy of the Law of the 42 

Rules for teachers 51 

Violations and mistakes 53 

Of what it consists 41, 42 

Power of thought rests largely upon 42 

The vehicle of thought 44 

The instrument of thought 46 

Expressing original thought 48 

The storehouse of knowledge 48 

The measure of knowledge 49 

Nature gives aid to 50 

By signs 50 



Index 125 

PAGB 

Language, An imperfect medium of thought 50 

Misuse of 54 

Complexity of 55 

Lack of knowledge of, a great obstacle 56 

Takes its meaning from old knowledge 63 

Law, the universal reign of 13 

The teacher subject to 13 

Effect of discovery of 1 

Learner, The Law of the 24 

The Law of the, stated 5, 24 

The Law of the, stated as a rule 6 

Philosophy of the Law of the 31 

Rules for teachers 37 

Violations and mistakes 39 

The true 24 

A rediscoverer 98 

How must progress 101 

Rules for 103 

Learning: 

Pompous pretense of 23 

Its essential conditions 24 

How it should proceed » 59 

Without a teacher 76 

Superficial course of 94 

What is true 97 

What is not real 98 

How it comes 98 

Its several phases 98 

And memorizing 98 

And understanding 99 

Mastery of thought 99 

And testing statements 100 

And application of knowledge 100 

Learning Process, The Law of the 96 

The Law of the, stated , 5, 97 

The Law of the, stated as a rule 7 

^" Philosophy of the Law of the 97 

^; Practical rules for teacher and learners 103 

^ Violations and mistakes 104 

The two limitations of 101 

Lecture plan, when justifiable 89 

Lesson, The Law of the 57 

The Law of the, stated 5,58 

The Law of the, stated as a rule 6 

Philosophy of the Law of the 38 

Rules for teachers 68 



126 Index 



PAGE 

Lesson. Mistakes and violations 71 

Fresh study of 20 

Analogies in 20 

Natural order of the several steps 20 

Relation to lives of learners 20 

All aids to be used 20 

Time for study of 20 

Plan of study of 21 

Good books on 21 

Discussion of, with other thinkers 21 

Making mere framework of 23 

Relation of, with the learner 35 

Lessons, thoroughly learned 101 

Maxims, Influence of 114 

Meanings, New, in old texts 110 

Memory: Conditions of its retentive holding 112 

Dependence on association of ideas 112 

Mental powers: Essential condition of their exercise 79 

Stimulus of 79 

Processes of cognition of 80 

Work in their own way 87 

Mind, The laws of 1 

A power actuated by motives 33 

Reserve powers of 33 

How controlled 34 

Sources of its interest 35 

The adult 35 

The self-active 87 

Action of, limited 82 

Autocracy of 88 

^ " The mind is," etc. (Milton) 87 

True stimulus of 89 

Does not achieve victories by single effort 112 

Objects, the language of 49 

Powers, command and use of 18 

Preparation, lack of ^ 22 

Pupil, Confidence of 18 

Ability to inspire with love of study 19 

Ignorance of 22 

Must think 32 

Needs of, to be learned from his words 46 

Taught to make clear statements 51, 55 

Seeming attention of 53 

Stupidity of, explained 59 

Two obviously different classes of 81 

Too much help for 88 



Index 127 

PAGE 

Philosophy of: 

The Law of the Teacher 14 

The Law of the Learner 31 

The Law of the Language 42 

The Law of the Lesson 58 

The Law of the Teaching Process 76 

The Law of the Learning Process 97 

The Law of Review and Application 108 

Questions as excitants 89 

Review and Application, The Law of 107 

The Law of, stated 5, 107 

The Law of, stated as a rule 7 

Philosophy of the Law of 108 

Practical rules for teachers 117 

Violations and mistakes 119 

Different grades of 108 

Partial 109 

Fresh themes discovered by 109 

Additions to knowledge gained by 110 

Establishes new associations 112 

Gives the mind firm hold 1 13 

One of the essential conditions of teaching 114 

Processes of, vary 114 

Practical forms of 116 

Ready skill, produced by 116 

Use of hand-work in 116 

Sense organs, gateways to the mind 33 

Sentences, short and long 52 

Signs as a medium of speech 49, 50 

Skill and enthusiasm 9 

Spirit, scientific: What is it 90 

Study of the lesson 20 

Time for 20, 21 

Temptation to neglect 22 

Not the pupil's work only 22 

Thoroughness in, relative 65 

Talking is thinking 47 

Teacher, The Law of the 13 

The Law of the, stated . 5, 14 

The Law of the, stated as a rule 6 

Philosophy of the Law of the 14 

Rules for teachers 20 

Violations and mistakes 21 

Qualifications of 13 

Powers of, roused 18 



128 Index 

PAGB 

Teacher as a helper of the class 18 

Confidence of pupil in 18 

Loss of standing with class 22 

What he has within his power 34 

The too-talkative 51 

Necessity of 76 

The best 77 

The true 81 

Mission of 88 

The Great Ill 

Teachers, Enthusiastic versus Trained 9 

Rules for, concerning: 

The Law of the Teacher 20 

The Law of the Learner 37 

The Law of the Language 51 

The Law of the Lesson 68 

The Law of the Teaching Process 91 

The law of the Learning Process 103 

The Law of Review and Application 117 

Enthusiastic from knowledge 17 

A word to 11 

Teaching, Fixed natural laws of 1 

Definition of 2 

Seven factors of 3 

Analysis of 3 

The Seven Laws of, stated 5 

The Seven Laws of, stated as rules 6 

Essentials of, successful 7 

Real complexity of laws of 8 

Laws obeyed by all successful teachers 8, 9 

Aim of Sunday-school 10 

Systematic, objection to 10 

Laws of, the laws of mind 11 

Helping the child to expression 47 

Where it must begin 58 

How it must advance 59 

Forcing process 79 

Teaching Process, The Law of the 73 

The Law of the, stated 5, 74 

The Law of the, stated as a rule 6 

Philosophy of the Law of the 76 

Rules for teachers 91 

Violations and mistakes 93 

Thought, the vehicle of 44 

The instrument of 46 

Two excitants of 83 



Index 129 



PAGE 

Truth a basis of appeal 10 

Understood through other truths 16 

Necessity of understanding 17 

Mastered through expression 47 

Imperfectly known 64 

Truths, Common, transformed 18 

Unknown taught through the known 58 

Cannot be explained through the unknown 62 

Violations and mistakes: 

The Law of the Teacher 21 

The Law of the Learner 39 

The Law of the Language 53 

The Law of the Lesson 71 

The Law of the Teaching Process 93 

The Law of the Learning Process 104 

The Law of Review and Application 119 

Words: Small number in child's vocabulary 43 

Different meanings of 43, 44, 45 

Liked or disliked for their ideas 45 

Loaded with false meanings 46 

As clues 48 

Group or family of 49 

Not the only medium of speech 49 

Unnecessary 52 

As signs 63 



